Digicross Advanced Alpha
by Josh Johannesen
Summary: The series returns after an incredibly long hiatus! Many things will be different this time, as you will soon see. Two editors are on staff this time. Head Editor Trey Miller and Story Editor Scott Evans. Hope you enjoy!
1. A New Beginning

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or Digimon. If I did, I would be quite rich and I'd hire someone else to write this. In all seriousness, I make nothing off of this. I just want to tell a story.

Digicross Advanced Alpha is based off of Digicross, written by Patrick O'Shea. The characters of Josh and Kyle belong to their appropriate authors.

The Pokemon World has always been a mysterious place full of unknown danger. Facing that danger was part of a coming of age ritual called the Pokémon journey. At the cusp of their teens, new trainers would leave home to make a name for themselves, taking off into the unknown and learning how to stand on their own two feet. Last year, a young trainer named Kyle Ellison accidentally made more of a name for himself than he could ever want when he made the accidental discovery of another world, the Digital World.

The discovery of the Digital World tangentially introduced a second world, known simply as the Human World, as well as a shadow war perpetuated by an as yet unknown third world: the Dark Ocean. Its leader, Demon, was finally defeated atop the Indigo Plateau after he set his sights on conquering all three worlds.

While his destruction signaled the end of the imminent threat of the Dark Ocean, everyone knew that it was only a matter of time before another threat arose- from the Digital World or elsewhere. No one knew who it would be or how much destruction it would cause; however, this did not stop four people from climbing aboard a ferry bound for a new region, Hoenn.

Each of them had their own reasons for departing home for the distant region, but each would find that fate had brought them to this location for a common reason…

Digicross Advanced Alpha Chapter 1: "A New Beginning"

Aboard the SS Tidal sat a sandwich staring out of a window. Or at least it would if it had eyes. Next to it was a man about to eat said sandwich. Ever since the boat took off from Cinnabar Island, he had sat alone in his cabin. He wanted it that way. He wanted to take in everything.

As he sat there, watching out of the window, the man thought to himself, _This is finally my chance to get away from that past. To get away from all of them…_ He reached for the back of his neck, a slight pain there forcing him to rub it. His name was Josh and the journey he was on was, in many ways, an escape: from ordinary life; from the tiny island he and his family had been living on for the past few months; and from things he thought he'd long since gotten away from.

His stomach growled. Perhaps this journey would be better on a less than empty stomach. Josh picked up his sandwich and took a bite, savoring the peace, the quiet, and the tasty Reuben on rye.

Down the hall, the door to Cabin 108 closed behind a young man with a concerned look on his face. He was focused on the backpack carefully placed on the bed. "Did I remember to pack everything? I suppose I could check again…"

From across the room, a medium-sized lizard blew out a puff of smoke. "You're worrying too much, Ryo. You checked your equipment several times before we left this morning."

He chuckled and said, "You can never be too sure, Charmeleon." His name was Ryo Akiyama, a trainer famous for winning the solo battle competition in the Kanto region several years running.

"Do you really think we'll be able to find answers?" Charmeleon asked. "It seems like a wild goose chase to me."

"It might be, but we can't sit back and ignore the possibility that he might be right," Ryo observed. "I'd rather deal in a wild goose chase then sit back and watch the potential destruction of our home."

Charmeleon snorted. "Much as I'd like to, I can't find fault with that logic." He sat back and rested while Ryo busied himself with what, to his reptilian mind, was make-work. It was going to be a long night if his partner kept this up. He sighed; at least it was quiet.

On the other side of the ship, it was not quiet. The door to cabin 131 was ajar, and shouting was coming from within. A peculiarly purple-haired young woman stood, hands on her hips as she glared at a slouched and obviously uncaring young man. "You didn't have to leave without me!" She shouted.

The man rolled his eyes and muttered, "And you wonder why I tried to leave you in Olivine City…"

The girl's eyes got a nasty glint in them. "So you admit to trying to leave me behind!"

The boy turned away and purposely picked up a convenient magazine, giving the impression of not caring one iota. "Think whatever you want," he said.

This bickering couple are called Kyle Evanick and Casey Sparks. Believe it or not, they were capable of getting along… sometimes. This wasn't one of those times because Casey was insulted that he would try to go off on a brand new adventure without her. "Do you think that makes me feel good, knowing that?" Casey asked with a bit of a snarl in her voice.

"You didn't have to come. You could have stayed back in Johto and enjoyed the rest of your vacation with Kunemon," Kyle said calmly, looking her straight in the eye.

The look in Casey's eye went from angry to mischievous. "If I had done that, I wouldn't have been able to stay on vacation for much longer, you know."

Kyle nodded his head. "Yeah, I know. Normally, a trainer receives only one year to try and make a mark in the world of training before they have to return to finish school."

"But thanks to my parents' permission and a new league to conquer, I can extend that period outward to an additional year!" Casey finished with a large grin on her face.

Kyle sat back in his chair. "Of course, having to do it without our Digimon is a bit disappointing, but it would have been disastrous if we'd have brought them and they died."

Casey, having finally tired of pacing around, sat in a chair directly across from Kyle. "I wonder why no Digimon have ever been spotted in Hoenn? Wouldn't the contact with the Digital World have affected the entire planet?"

Kyle put his hand on his chin and thought for a moment before responding. "You'd think so, but that's clearly not the case. Tsukaimon and Kunemon might have been okay, but it's better that we were cautious about this. Besides, there is one upside if there really is a problem…"

Casey tilted her head. "And what exactly is that?"

"That's simple. Over in Hoenn, we shouldn't have to worry about the Digital World and evil Digimon interfering with our journey. It'll be as close as you can get to a pure Pokemon journey now that the two worlds are linked," he said as he began to smile. "It'll be exciting to try and work out Pokemon training in its purest form."

Casey nodded her head in agreement and the two sat in silence for awhile. Now, they could actually enjoy each other's company… for now.

The passage between Hoenn and Kanto took a full day to complete. During the night, Josh tossed and turned in bed, barely hanging right on the edge of sleep. He kept having a dream where his old foe, Murmuxmon, devoured everything he held dear. All he could do was stand by and watch as they were all destroyed. He came to Hoenn, hoping to get away from that nightmare.

Later that night, something happened to all four of them. As they crossed some kind of invisible threshold, their Digivices all got out of range of the dome of digital energy around the mainland. They all made an incredibly obnoxious whine and shut down.

Even though he was hanging on the edge of sleep, Josh still managed to sleep through this.

Ryo had an idea this was going to happen thanks to Izzy Izumi's hypothesis that he had been briefed on prior to setting off. When it did, he looked over to Charmeleon and nodded his head. "Now we know he's right about why we were sent here. Something's going on."

Charmeleon let out a puff of smoke. "It's a good thing that, as a Pokémon first and a Digimon second, I can survive just fine without the need for Digital energy to constantly enter my body."

"While true, I'm not going to attempt Digivolution while we're here. That would probably be a bad idea," Ryo noted. "For now, we need to make sure to get some sleep. Tomorrow, we begin to look for exactly why Hoenn is cut off from the rest of the Digital World."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" Charmeleon groaned. "We need to be in top form."

As Ryo and Charmeleon were heading to sleep, Casey and Kyle were just waking up. The noise caused by the Digivice shutdown freaked Casey out, causing her to jump out of her bed. Doing this shook Kyle out of his sleep as well. The noise didn't help, either. He stared at Casey and suggested, "Go back to bed and get some sleep."

"What was that?" she asked, her voice still sounding quite spooked.

Kyle reached over to the table nearby and fiddled with his Digivice. When it did nothing no matter what button he pressed, he surmised, "We must be out of range. The Digivices are no good anymore."

Casey then yelled out, "Why did they have to make that kind of noise?!" The walls dividing their room from the others were thumped on from all three sides.

Kyle facepalmed and told her, "Keep it down… Believe it or not, some people are actually trying to get some sleep…"

Realizing this, she quieted down and re-asked her question. Kyle then answered, "I don't know, but it's not going to help to dwell on it. Just be glad that Tsukaimon and Kunemon are back home."

They could both agree on that and decided to get some sleep. Casey wouldn't get a ton of it. At times, she thought she could hear that noise ringing through her head.

The following morning, at Littleroot Harbor, the ferry from the mainland came into shore as the sun rose over Littleroot Town. It was a lovely, green town nestled in the west side of the Hoenn region. As with Kanto and Johto's Pallet and New Bark Town, respectively, Littleroot was home to Hoenn's Pokemon laboratory. Located on the east side of town, with a straight path to the port, it served as a welcoming beacon to new trainers from near and far.

The ship docked in the harbor and a number of workers began to unload what cargo there was from the mainland within the hulls of the ship. Meanwhile, people began streaming off the ship with Josh at the front of the line. He was so anxious to begin his journey that he wanted off the boat as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, in Cabin 108, Ryo was going back over his pack and his things, making absolutely certain that everything was there. He checked and double checked again. "Spare Poké Balls, Pokédex…"

Charmeleon rolled his eyes and asked, "Is that entirely necessary? I can almost guarantee you that nothing in that pack went missing since you last checked. Last night. Before we went to sleep."

"If I'm missing even one thing, it could jeopardize the entire mission," Ryo said in a very matter-of-fact sense. In response, Charmeleon facepalmed. "Do that as much as you want, but when we come up short on supplies… Well, I would never say 'I told you so', but…"

Charmeleon snorted. "I would like to leave this ship sometime _today._ "

Ryo retorted, "And I say we'll leave when we're good and ready to do so!"

"You do realize that if you've left something behind, there's no way to go back and get it, right?" Charmeleon asked, starting to sound impatient.

Ryo didn't dignify that with a response and kept checking, at a slower pace..

They remained in the cabin for an extra two hours.

Inside the Pokémon Lab, a relatively young man in beach wear, a lab coat sloppily worn over, sat sprawled at a desk, writing down observations from the previous night's work. He yawned loudly. "Fieldwork is so tiring sometimes, but it's so rewarding." Then, he heard a knock at the front door. "Come in," he said.

The door opened and in walked Josh. Birch stood up and asked a simple question. "Come here to start a new life as a Trainer?" Birch walked over toward the young man.

Josh nodded his head. "That's correct, Professor. My name is Josh." He held out his hand and subsequently shook the professor's. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Birch smiled back. "Ah, you're the young man that Professor Oak said would be showing up today." Josh nodded his head in agreement with that statement. "Now, do you have your License?" Josh reached into his pack and presented a card with all of his vital information on it. Birch looked it over and nodded his head. "Yeah, everything seems to be in order. Now, let's see about getting you a Pokémon…"

Josh shook his head and said, "That won't be necessary, Professor."

This genuinely surprised the Professor for a few moments. "What do you mean?"

Josh reached for his belt and pulled out a single Pokémon. "Go, Blade!" From inside came a green lizard. Birch recognized it immediately as a Treecko. "I obtained this Pokémon quite some time ago."

"Wait a second…" Birch said. He walked back to his desk and scanned some notes. "You're one of three people who obtained a Pokémon that day, weren't you? Three Pokémon went missing from my Lab that day."

Josh nodded again and said, "That's right. I got it from Mewtwo. I had no idea that they came from here."

Birch walked back over and looked at Treecko from several different angles. "You seem to have taken care of this one quite well." Blade took on a prideful pose, as if showing off to Birch.

"I certainly have tried to take care of it," Josh answered, petting Blade.

Birch looked up at Josh and smiled. "Well done. I couldn't have taken care of this one any better than you have. I have no problem continuing to trust its care to you." He stood and wandered back over to the desk and opened a drawer. As he dug around, he said, "Before you go, there is one other piece of equipment considered standard by trainers that you should have." After digging for another minute, he found it and pulled it out. It was a small device which could be held in one hand. "I don't think I need to tell you this, but this is the local version of the Pokédex. This device can give you information about any Pokémon living within our region."

Josh took it with a smile and placed it in his backpack. "Thank you, Professor." He turned toward the door. "Well, I'm off. Hopefully, next time you see me, it'll be at the Hoenn League Championships."

"If you're taking the League challenge, I might suggest either Petalburg or Rustboro for your first destination. Go north to find Oldale Town. From there, head west and you should find Petalburg easily. Rustboro is northwest of there," Birch finished.

Josh responded with a wave as he headed out the door. Birch sighed loudly. "Doesn't have the best social skills, but he should make a good trainer. The way he took care of his Treecko suggests as such."

He walked back over to his desk and sat down, looking back over what he was doing. "Well, thankfully, that was the last distraction of the day. Now, I can work the rest of the day away." And he did indeed get to work for about 45 minutes. Sadly, it wouldn't last forever. Another knock came at his door. "Come in," Birch said.

Two people walked in continuing an argument they had began outside. Physically, the most remarkable thing Birch saw was the young lady decked in yellow and black. But, this only caught his attention for a minute before the argument forced it elsewhere.

"If you hadn't started arguing about whether Electric-types are better then Fire-types, we might have gotten here a lot sooner," Kyle pointed out.

Casey snorted a bit. "Whatever. You know that's why the Electabuzz are the best team around."

"Yeah… Just ask their 15-52 record…" Kyle muttered.

"Their opponents got lucky! That's all!" Casey shouted. She was about to break out into a rendition of the Electabuzz Fight Song when Birch got involved.

He cleared his throat and asked, "Can I help you? If all you did was come in here to argue, I would prefer it if you took that outside."

Both of them sweatdropped and looked at the professor. "I'm sorry about her, Professor. She gets rather… heated sometimes."

"It's not exactly like you weren't arguing with me, you know!" Casey shouted back.

"Enough!" Birch shouted in as irritated a voice as he ever used. "Are you here for something or just to argue?"

With both of them now red with embarrassment, Casey quietly said, "We came to sign up for the Hoenn League and obtain our Pokédexes…"

Birch cleared his throat again. "That's better. Now, let me see your Trainer's Licenses and we can get this all squared away." Both of them did so. When Birch saw Casey's license, he asked, "Can I see your form granting you permission to enter a second league, Casey?" Casey reached into her pack and grabbed that, handing it over as well. Birch looked over everything and nodded. He handed back the documents and walked over to his desk. "I wish I would have known more people were coming today. Now I need to make sure I have enough 'Dexes for more trainers…"

"We're not the first people to come by today?" Kyle asked, finally breaking the silence coming from the two of them.

Birch shook his head. "There was someone here earlier. They're probably already on their way out of town."

"Maybe if we hurry, we can catch up with them!" Casey suggested.

"I don't think I'd recommend that course of action," Birch said solemnly. "He wanted to make a fresh start of things, and I don't think he wants any extra company."

Casey frowned lightly. "Who wouldn't want extra company on their journey? Doesn't he know that to be a successful Trainer you have to have, by definition, company?"

Kyle sighed loudly. "While I agree with you, that's not what he meant and you know it…"

Birch brought up the information screen and reiterated, "I wouldn't suggest pursuing him, but obviously I can't make that decision for you. Now... " Something occurred to him just then and he asked a seemingly random question. "Do either of you need Pokémon?"

The two of them looked at each other and Kyle responded, "No, we don't."

The professor nodded knowingly. "That's what I thought. Let me take another wild guess… One of you has a Torchic and the other has a Mudkip?"

Both of them stared on in surprise. "How did you…?" Casey asked.

"Call it a hunch…" Birch said as he dug into his desk once more. "Either that or call it connecting the dots."

The statement made little sense to the two of them, but as Birch pulled out a pair of extra Pokédexes, he turned back to them. "Now, can I see your Pokémon?"

Both trainers obliged him and released their Pokémon. Kyle had a Torchic in front of him and Casey, a Mudkip. Upon seeing Mudkip again, Casey kneeled down and hugged her. "Ooh, she's still so cute!"

Birch blinked a few times and then asked, "So I take it that you like Mudkips, huh?"

Casey nodded enthusiastically. "Of course! Who couldn't love a Pokémon like this? She's cute, she's strong..."

"It's just odd that someone who is so enthralled with Electric-types would love someone like Mudkip…" Kyle observed.

"Hey, I have a Meganium as well! It's not as though I'm Lieutenant Surge or something!" Casey shouted, turning toward him.

Birch grabbed the bridge of his nose and groaned, "Enough… both of you." Both of them stopped their argument… for now, at least. He then turned his attention to Torchic. She looked quite healthy and had a shiny set of feathers. "Do you groom her a lot?"

"I do," Kyle said. "I'm practicing for something I'd heard exists in this region, Pokémon contests."

Birch nodded a few times. "Very different requirements for success versus the Hoenn League. Are you sure you're ready for the extra work you're going to have to put in?"

Kyle patted Torchic on the head. "I'm definitely ready to give it my best shot." Torchic chirped in agreement.

"Excellent. I take it, then, that you got the best end of the deal?" Birch asked.

"I wouldn't exactly say that I'm unhappy with the way things turned out," Kyle admitted.

Birch then handed over his two extra Pokédexes to the two of them. "Please continue to take care of them. I don't want to find out that you've slacked off now that you're on a proper journey."

"I don't think you have to worry about us," Kyle said with a smile. "Casey, in spite of her hyperactivity, has been doing this for awhile. We should both be fine."

Casey was about to take it as a backhanded compliment, but she wisely just decided to let it be. Birch, meanwhile, dug out two more Pokédexes and handed them to the two of them. "I'll wish you both the best of luck. As I told the young man earlier, if you're seeking to take on the League challenge, head west from Oldale Town, which is north of here, and go to Petalburg City or northwest of there to Rustboro."

Both of them thanked the professor and hurried out to try and find this mysterious young man who had arrived at the lab before them. The clues to his identity had been left by Birch, but there weren't enough pieces to put things together yet.

At the north end of Littleroot sat a small restaurant. Ryo ate breakfast there, savoring it, as this was going to be the last time for awhile that he'd be able to enjoy something like this. Washing down a bite with a gulp of juice, he wiped his mouth with a napkin and sat back, thinking about the mission he had to accomplish while he was here. "What could possibly cause something like this to happen?" he asked himself. Charmeleon was currently sleeping in his Poké Ball and couldn't rightly provide an answer to that question.

Of course, it wasn't as though any of Ryo's thoughts were providing any real answers, either. Nothing made any sense at all to him. _You would have thought that when the events brought this world and the Digital World together, everyone would have seen the effects of that. But, clearly, our Digivices won't work here. So, something else must be going on that I can't figure out._

He finished eating about 5 minutes later, paid the bill and got up to leave. He walked out and headed for the exit. _Well, there's no time like the present to get started._ He headed north straight toward Oldale Town.

Ryo passed a sign noting the distance to Oldale, twenty-two kilometers, and nodded to himself. Based on his normal gait, he should make it to Oldale in roughly six hours. Even with his late morning start, he would still have daylight when he arrived.

About an hour ahead of Ryo, about two-thirds the way up Route 101, stood Josh. He had moved quickly the entire way, switching between running and walking to cover the distance. His body was still full of adrenaline from the rush he felt earlier when he received Pokédex from Professor Birch. _Forget resting in Oldale Town. I want to go straight to Petalburg City right now and see about talking with the Gym Leader there._

The few trainers on Route 101 observed this relatively old trainer and his visible excitement. But, outside of noting how unusual he was, they paid little mind to him and kept to themselves.

Eighteen minutes later, Josh saw a sign noting that it was one kilometer to Oldale Town.

Fourteen minutes after that, he arrived in Oldale Town for the first time. Josh observed a sign stating that it was twenty-two kilometers to Littleroot, meaning that he'd come a long way already. The only stop Josh made in town was to the local Poké Mart to pick up some Poké Balls, Antidotes and a couple of Potions. While he had been given a bit of cash, it was not so much that he could spend freely. Once he'd paid for everything, he shot out from Oldale Town toward Petalburg City. The goal was to be there before midnight if at all possible.

Back on Route 101, Kyle and Casey had not been quite as successful in catching up with the mysterious trainer, as Josh was at staying relatively quick. Both of them had tired out a lot sooner and slowed down to a walking pace after a brisk 20 minute run. Casey was panting loudly and looked at Kyle. "How fast could that guy have been?"

Kyle shook his head, "To be fair, we don't even know how much of a head start he had on us."

They continued north toward Oldale Town, at a reduced pace. In large part, they avoided the areas where wild Pokémon could appear. After all, both Kyle and Casey had a pair of Pokémon to their names. Additionally, thanks to prior experience with their Pokémon, they were trained up to levels which would mean that any fighting they could do here wouldn't result in much benefit at all.

So, neither one of them felt inclined to train at all on this route. They could just walk all the way to Oldale and then rest for the night there. "Did you really come all the way to Hoenn just to follow me?" Kyle asked randomly.

"Mostly to follow you," Casey said honestly. "Of course, I've never actually been to Hoenn, so it would be a nice little adventure to have as well. I suppose you came for the adventure?"

"Exactly," he said with a nod. "This land is supposed to be far different than what we're used to in Johto or even Kanto. I am really looking forward to it."

About thirty minutes later, they actually received another surprise. From behind them came a familiar voice. "Hey!"

Kyle and Casey turned around to see a young man approaching from behind them. It didn't take long for Casey to recognize who it was. "Ryo?" she asked, sounding surprised.

"Didn't think I'd see the two of you here," Ryo said with a small smile as he finished approaching. "How are you two doing?"

"We're doing all right," Kyle responded. "We're just beginning our journey north toward Oldale Town.

"That's not all we're doing," Casey interjected. "We're looking for the third trainer who stopped in to see Professor Birch!"

When Ryo's face turned from confused to inquisical, Kyle stepped in to explain. "Professor Birch told us that someone had gotten there ahead of us and taken a Pokédex. He also said that person wanted to be alone, which made Casey go nuts because she doesn't believe any trainer should be alone."

"That's right! The more the merrier!" she said with great energy.

Ryo didn't answer this right away. He had a few thoughts running through his head. _Someone who wants to stay alone… Nothing wrong with that. Why does Casey even care?_

After another moment, Ryo had one other thought. "Did the Professor mention if the other trainer took a Pokémon of their own?"

Casey was about to say something, but stopped herself last-minute. "I don't think we asked," Kyle answered.

"That's what I thought," Ryo said. "It would have seemed odd to ask that question." He then turned his attention to another subject. "Are you two here on an extended date or something?"

Both of them immediately responded, "No!" They faced away from one another, both faces turning a rather pronounced shade of red.

"Guess that answers my question," Ryo said with a laugh.

After Ryo laughed for a few moments, Kyle asked the question on both his and Casey's minds: "What are you doing all the way out here in Hoenn?"

Ryo looked around, as though expecting to see someone trying to listen in on their conversation. Much to no one's surprise, the path, and the field around them were empty. "I'm here on official business from Mewtwo."

"The Guardian Mewtwo?" Casey asked, her voice betraying a sense of surprise.

Ryo nodded his head. "One and the same." He paused to collect his thoughts and then asked them, "Tell me, did your Digivices turn off last night?"

Before Casey could say anything, Kyle blurted out, "They sure did... she panicked when they made that shut down shriek."

Casey reached over her shoulder and then swung at Kyle's head, a hard foam baseball bat appearing just in time to smash Kyle sideways. It disappeared as fast as it had appeared, leaving Ryo to wonder if his eyes were playing tricks on him.. "And who asked for your opinion anyway?!" Casey yelled at Kyle, who was just now trying to figure out why he was on the ground, and what had she hit him with.

Ryo sweatdropped and quickly changed the subject back to himself. "Mewtwo tasked me with figuring out exactly why this region is cut off from the Digital World."

"You mean he doesn't know either?" Casey asked. "He's one of the Guardians of the Digital World now! You would think if anyone had an answer, he or one of the other Guardians would have it."

Ryo nodded in confirmation. "You would think so, yes. But, he has no more of an answer to this puzzle than the three of us do. That's why I'm here. Because Chameleon is both a Digimon and a Pokémon..."

In spite of his headache, Kyle caught on immediately. "He can survive here without needing digital energy to do so."

"Exactly!" Ryo said with a smile. "Since the both of you are asking, I presume that you want to come with me?"

Both of them nodded their heads quickly. "Then why don't we head north into Oldale? We're going to rest there ahead of heading onto Petalburg tomorrow."

Several hours later, a trio of red-clad people exited the trees on the east side of Route 103 and looked around. The leader oriented himself while the other two looked around. To the left was a sign noting the town of Oldale 2 kilometers further south, and to the north a sign noting a kilometer before the route crossed the bayou ("Pole Boat Ferrying Available: Mon-Sat, 0700-1000, 1700-2000. All Other Times, Please Make Your Own Way Across"). "Are you certain that it's around here?" a female voice asked.

The leader sighed resignedly, lowered the map, turned around and answered in a husky voice, "Are you questioning the wisdom of the Boss?"

"No, no! Of course not!" she responded quickly.

"Then stop asking such silly questions," the husky one said before turning around. "The Boss told us that there's some ancient sealed chamber near here and inside is some sort of hint which will allow us to achieve our ultimate goal."

The third member of the trio, whose voice also sounded male, spoke up. "Didn't the boss also say something about needing some kind of key to get inside of there?"

"He did, yes. But, I believe that has already been taken care of," the leader said with a smirk. He turned south and started walking, letting the others catch up. "All we'll need to do is wait for a little while…"

Ryo, Kyle and Casey entered Oldale and made a beeline for the Pokémon Center and their very comfortable chairs. Casey laid out in a chair and said, "I'm so ready to go to sleep tonight!"

Kyle rubbed the lump on his head and said, "I just hope the throbbing goes away by tomorrow…"

Ryo made a sound of agreement but remained mostly silent. His mind was processing possibilities of all sorts.

At the desk talking to Nurse Joy was a man with large round glasses, dressed in an outfit which would immediately remind someone of stuff a stereotypical archaeologist would wear. "Do you know anyone who could help me?" he asked.

Nurse Joy shook her head. "I'm sorry, but most of the trainers around here wouldn't have the desire or the experience to help out. I might try Petalburg City. Maybe you could get their Gym Leader to suggest someone."

The man sighed loudly. "Thanks anyway." As he walked back toward the entrance of the Pokémon Center, Casey got up.

"Excuse me, but why are you trying to find experienced trainers?" She asked. "I mean, I doubt you will find many around this part of Hoenn."

He chuckled weakly and adjusted his glasses. "You're probably right. I just wanted to have some extra protection for some fieldwork I'm on. I'm here on behalf of the museum in Slateport City."

Ryo was shaken out of his stupor and asked, "What sort of fieldwork would require protection?"

"Well, in truth, I'm not much of a trainer, so I don't have much in the way of protection from wild Pokémon. Besides, it's not every day that fieldwork requires you to carry rare gemstones from all over the region," the archaeologist said with some amount of pride.

Ryo continued his line of questioning. "So it's not just wild Pokémon, but thieves, too. What kind of fieldwork are you doing?"

The man chuckled to himself. "I'm here because there is a sealed chamber nearby that was recently discovered. We had found writings talking about it and how to open it, but it's location was lost until two weeks ago.."

"This close to the Pokémon Lab?" Kyle asked. "I would have thought that it would have been discovered by Professor Birch by now."

"Birch is a biologist studying how our modern Pokémon have adapted and evolved. He's less concerned with some archaeological site than with the Pokémon that might be making it a home.," he responded factually. "That said, as he has been here for years, one would think he would have be the one to discover it. Oh well, something to tease him about, next science conference we have." He laughed.

Kyle asked, "How did you find out about it, then?"

"A report from another agency which detected its presence," he said. "They used some kind of technological imagery to detect it and apparently they still walked right past it several times before they located it. Two weeks of research showed it was likely to be the missing chamber written about, so the gems were gathered, and now here I am."

Before the conversation could go any further, Casey began to grin. "I think we've found something to do tonight."

"I thought you said you were looking forward to sleep…" Kyle noted.

"Well… that was before this happened!" Casey said after a moment's hesitation.

Kyle sighed and stood up. "Well, I guess I'd better go with you, just in case you decide to shout and bring the place down on your head…"

Casey turned a bright shade of red and shouted, "Thanks a lot!"

 _Prove my point, why don't you…?_ Kyle thought as he stood up. He looked back to Ryo. "Are you coming along as well?"

Ryo shook his head lightly. "I've got other things I need to do here before I go to sleep. So, the three of you be careful out there."

Casey grinned, "You've got it!"

The archaeologist blinked several times at the sequence of events. But, he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. If there was someone willing to go with him, he needed to take the opportunity and ride it. "Thank you, kids. By the way, I'm George."

Kyle and Casey introduced themselves to George before they walked out of the Pokémon Center for their nighttime excursion.

Ryo chose now to stand up and speak with Nurse Joy. "Excuse me. Would you mind if I used the PC?"

The nurse nodded her head. "Sure thing. Go right on ahead."

Ryo stepped in front of the console and reached into his pocket. What he pulled out what his digivice. Nurse Joy didn't recognize it at all and watched him. Ryo then put the device up to the computer screen, attempting to open a digiport to this region.

"Digiport, open."

The attempt ended in failure. The computer did nothing at all. He turned around to see Nurse Joy looking at him strangely. He blushed. "Ah, yes, I should probably explain," he chuckled sheepishly, "I don't know if you've heard, but a while back, Kanto and Johto were opened up to a parallel world, the Digital world-"

Nurse Joy interrupted him, "Oh yes, I remember one of my cousins telling me about that. People hopping out of the computers and Pokémon that could evolve and devolve at command, or something like that."

Ryo nodded. "That's the basics, yes."

"So you were trying to do that, just now?" she asked.

"Yes ma'am. But the problem is, there is no connection here in Hoenn. From what I've been told, it extends out about fifty miles out from the region all around," he took a breath, "I'm here to try to establish why this is, and if possible, resolve the problem."

Nurse Joy asked, "Do you have any idea what you're looking for?"

Ryo was distracted from answering as the television chose that moment to play a louder than usual commercial from 'PokéChow: Now With Oran Berries!' He stared for a moment before turning back. "Actually, I might." He started, thoughtfully. "How do the televisions receive their signal?"

"By cable. I think that's how it's always been. Internet too, come to think of it. Why?"

Ryo pushed on without answering, "What about wireless? Are there radio stations?"

Nurse Joy looked confused, "We have internet radio, but that's by cable, too. Actually, I can't think of anything wireless."

Ryo nodded. "Well Nurse Joy, I think I may have a suspicion that this problem with the Digital world might be affecting more than just things for people like me. I think I'm going to need to get word to some friends on the outside; let them know what I've found and see if they have any ideas."

Nurse Joy nodded. "If you don't mind, I'll pass on your suspicions and if any word of anything strange happens, we'll get word to you."

He blinked, surprised at the generosity. "Thank you, Nurse Joy. I'll leave my contact information so that you, or anyone else can get in touch with me."

She nodded and moved on to her duties leaving Ryo to his thoughts. If it wasn't clear before, it certainly was now. Something had happened around here to block off access to the Digital Plane, and might possibly be affecting wireless communication, too. The real questions now were what happened and why. But, that was why he was brought here: to investigate and find the reason. _And I will find that reason. I will find out why, no matter what it takes._

Twenty minutes after leaving the Pokemon Center George, Kyle and Casey were nearing their destination just off of Route 103. At least, that's what George kept saying. As far as the two digidestined could tell, everything was still far too plain and way, way too flat.

"Are you sure this is the right way?" Kyle asked, sounding worried about this whole affair being nothing more than a wild goose chase.

"Absolutely positive!" George shouted back. He muttered to himself, "I can't wait for this... To think, a sealed chamber, over 2,000 years old, right under our very noses! Actually, right under our feet!"

That last phrase didn't get by Casey at all. "Wait a second. Did you say this chamber is underground?"

George grinned and replied, "That's right! It's right off of Route 103 and possibly goes directly under it, depending on how expansive it is."

Casey and Kyle shared a glance and subtly began to limber up, adjusting their Pokeballs to a better position. This was looking more and more like a trap. After all, how likely was it that a mysterious chamber right off a main route could be hidden in plain sight for so long?

Minutes later, the three of them came upon a sight which, admittedly, was completely out of place here: to the west of the road, some ten meters off, was a cleared area with an angled stone set in the ground. As they approached, they could see a rectangular groove in the face, like a door, with a smaller circular groove and three identically shaped indentions. Kyle and Casey looked at each other for a few moments. Whatever they had thought moments before, it appeared that they were wrong.

George, meanwhile, was grinning like a cat that just got a pesky mouse. "This is exactly as they described in the notes!" He shouted.

Kyle, looking at the pillar, asked a perfectly fair question. "What goes inside those holes in the pillar?"

A glint reflected off of George's glasses as the moon hit them. "As I said before, it's not just wild Pokémon I was concerned about, but thieves." He dug into his pockets and pulled out three gems. Each was brilliant and a different color. One was sapphire blue, another was ruby red and the third was emerald green. "These gems are the key to getting inside the ruin."

The three gems sparkled in the pale moonlight above. "They're quite pretty," Casey said, smiling.

Kyle had a thought he was surprised he didn't have before. "If these gems are as valuable as you say they are, why would any thief wait to grab them?"

Before either George or Casey could come up with an answer, three people dressed in red garb jumped down from a tree to their left and confronted them. They said nothing for the first few seconds, as though they were assessing the odds that they would emerge victorious from this conflict. Before long, the man in front spoke in a husky voice. "Because it's not the gems we're after, but the knowledge locked within that chamber."

Casey asked, "Who are you?" Her voice sounded upset, but lack of knowledge couldn't tell her why to be upset.

The less husky male spoke up this time. "We're Team Magma, activists who use Pokémon to expand the world's landmass!"

"Activists is a rather strong term," the female said. "We're nothing more than trainers seeking the best path for this world."

"You're no better than Team Rocket!" Casey shouted back.

This drew an unexpected response from the squad leader. He snarled and stepped forward in anger. "Don't you ever compare us to those mainland thugs again, little girl. The only 'good' they ever did was when they finally folded and went under after their boss was arrested."

Casey was miffed at being called a little girl, but didn't respond.

"You have two choices: surrender the gems to us or prepare to fight," the female said.

For Kyle and Casey, the choice was easy. Both reached for their belts and pulled two Pokémon each. "Go, Toaster and Noble!"

"Go, Aquaria and Meganium!"

Four Pokémon materialized before Kyle and Casey. In front of Kyle, Torchic and Pikachu. Casey had Mudkip and Meganium in front of her.

The three Team Magma grunts responded by throwing out two Balls each. Before them stood three Mightyena, a Torkoal, a Camerupt and a Sableye.

Kyle gulped quietly. The scale of the battle in front of them was daunting. Every single one of their Pokémon was fully evolved. Only one of theirs was fully evolved. But, that was the least of their problems.

"Launch a Shadow Ball barrage now!" The three Mightyena and single Sableye launched a projectile of darkness. But, they all missed the Pokémon. Instead, Sableye's Shadow Ball hit the ground in front of the three humans. The remaining three hit the humans directly. They were flung back and knocked out.

The Pokémon looked back, incredibly concerned about their trainers. "Finish the job, " the leader commanded. Torkoal used Heat Wave while Camerupt used Flamethrower to finish off Meganium. With the biggest threat out, a bunch of Shadow Ball attacks finished off the rest.

The Magma members worked quickly. They knew the effects of Shadow Ball wouldn't last long. They relieved Kyle and Casey of their Poké Balls and sent their fainted Pokémon back inside. They then dropped the Balls not far away from the children. It wasn't their business to steal Pokémon, after all.

Before they went for the gems, the female member spoke up. "We don't know how the gems interact with that pillar. We also don't know if there is some kind of trap if we get it wrong."

The leader turned around and then nodded. "Good point. The Slateport museum would have studied it."

The grunts changed plans and waited for a short period of time.

It took about twenty minutes for Kyle and Casey to regain consciousness from the assault. They woke up laying on the ground. While this fact wasn't particularly surprising, the fact their arms were bound to their sides, their hands bound behind their backs and their feet tied together. Standing over them was one of the three grunts, specifically the female one. "So sorry about this, but it has to be done."

Both children glared at the grunt. "Yeah, right!" Casey shouted, pulling against the ropes unsuccessfully.

Kyle looked around and found George standing near the other two grunts. The leader of the grunts smirked. "Like I said before, we don't really care about the gems themselves. We care about the chamber and what's inside. If you will cooperate with us, we'll let you loose and we can all go in there and look around. After we've recovered the data we're after, we'll leave and you all can go on your own way."

"Don't give them what they want!" Kyle yelled, sounding much more angry than he usually does.

The female grunt grabbed Kyle and made him look at her. "You and your girlfriend might want to shut your big mouths before I shut them for you."

"Hey!" The grunt walked over to Casey and grabbed her before smacking her upside the head.

"Enough!" The other male grunt yelled. "Team Magma isn't the type to get physically violent, but we can get there really fast if you don't cooperate. Besides..." He looked at George and said, "Deep down, you just want to see what's inside, too. Just let us partake of your thrill of discovery and everything will be okay."

"You can't let them win!" Casey yelled back at George.

The archeologist shook his head. "I can't risk your lives over this. Besides, they do have one thing right. I do want to see what's going on in there as much as they do."

The leader nodded. "Then let's go." Before they walked off, the two male grunts each dropped a Pokémon onto the field to guard the two children: One of their Mightyena and Torkoal.

"Don't go anywhere," the female taunted before walking off. Kyle and Casey both growled in their general direction. Mightyena growled back at them.

At Oldale Pokémon Center, Ryo laid on a bed having since retired to a back room for the night. All he could do was stare at the ceiling. "It sure is taking those three a long time to get back."

"Maybe the chamber is exceptionally large?" Charmeleon suggested, laying at the foot of Ryo's bed.

"... No," he responded. "If the only problem was the size, George wouldn't have asked for an experienced trainer to go with him. He thought something... or someone... was going to intercept him. And if that happened..."

Ryo didn't need to finish the thought for both of them to get the exact same idea. He got up and pulled on his shoes quickly before bringing Charmeleon back to his Poke Ball.

Following this, he ran out and went north. In his head, he was hoping that he was wrong about all of this and that things were going all right.

Back at the site of the ruins, George was walked up to the spot that he had been just 25 minutes earlier. The lead grunt asked, "How do we arrange these gems to gain entry into the ruin?"

He responded, "Place the red gem in the right slot, facing the west; place the blue gem in the left slot, facing the east and place the green gem in the top slot." The other two grunts followed these instructions to the letter.

Moments later, the circular cut rotated halfway around and then sunk in. There was a loud grating sound and then the square incision began to rise, tilting up to be a cover over the now opened passageway. The three grunts smirked. "Please, lead the way," the leader insisted. They each pulled out flashlights and began underground.

For the next fifteen minutes, Kyle and Casey stared as their two guards, and they returned the favor. Whenever one of them tried to escape their bonds, they would receive a shot of Smog in their faces, courtesy of Torkoal. They weren't worried about themselves; they were worried about George.

Charmeleon then entered the picture to rescue them. He first sent Mightyena to the ground with a slash to the back of the neck. Torkoal didn't have time to react before a Mud Shot from a Swinub hit the Fire-type. Charmeleon finished the job with another slash.

Kyle and Casey both looked over and saw Ryo standing there. "Are you two okay?" He asked.

"We're fine, but George…" Kyle said, his voice trailing off.

Ryo walked over, pulling out a knife and cutting the ropes which bound his friends. "We're going in after them."

Both of them nodded in agreement, picking up their dropped Poké Balls. Ryo ran with Charmeleon and Swinub still running in front of him. All of them descended into the chamber, Charmeleon's flame lighting the way.

Down below, the three grunts had been taking numerous pictures of the walls, gathering every piece of information that they could. "I still don't understand what the Boss thinks we're going to find in this place," the female noted.

"It's not your place to question his authority. He thinks there is something in here, and we're going to figure out what that something is," the husky-voiced leader said.

George was looking around at everything with a great deal of awe. "This is absolutely amazing… To think that such a place would exist right under our feet."

The other male chose to respond to this, "It is incredible that it went hidden for so long, isn't it?" George nodded in agreement.

The discussion was cut short when Casey yelled out, "You're going to pay for leaving us tied up out there!" The attention of the four adults turned to the door. They saw Kyle and Casey and a third youth that the three grunts hadn't seen before now.

They frowned and the leader uttered, "Well, it looks like we're done here for today. We got what we came for, so we're out." The leader threw down a smoke bomb, filling the room with smoke instantly. Ryo, Kyle and Casey covered their mouths and all of them coughed. When the smoke cleared, the three grunts were long gone.

"Dang it!" Casey yelled. "They got away!"

Ryo walked over to the archaeologist and cut away his bindings as well. "Did they harm you?" he asked.

"No," George said. "They didn't even harm the ruins themselves. All they were interested in was taking pictures of these wall murals scattered around this room."

Kyle frowned. "I wonder why that would be…"

Ryo took a more proactive approach and walked over to the murals, bringing Charmeleon with him. As Charmeleon's tail flame provided a natural light, it was easy to see part of why they had come here. There was a picture of a gigantic creature being worshipped by, apparently, some ancient humans. Around it were some mountains and an erupting volcano, or at least that's what Ryo could make out.

"Do you think that's why they came here?" Kyle asked, pointing to the giant creature.

"There's a really good chance," Ryo surmised. "But, perhaps there's more to this." He and Charmeleon moved over to the other murals. And while there was a picture of some kind of nondescript round object having something to do with the gigantic creature, one other picture caught his attention a lot more.

The gigantic creature was taking on something which didn't look like anything he'd ever seen on this planet before. It looked kind of like some sort of machine creature. "Hey, Kyle. Could you take a picture of this for later?"

Kyle walked over and pulled out his digital camera. "Sure. What's up?" He pointed it right at where Ryo was and took a picture.

"I want to have a closer look at this picture later on. Something doesn't quite sit right with me," Ryo said.

After taking a few pictures, Casey made a good suggestion, "Let's get out of here. We'll retrieve the gems on the way out of here, if those Team Magma goons weren't lying, that is."

"Team Magma?" Ryo asked. "Is that who those guys were associated with?"

Casey yelled, "They had the gall to attack us directly!"

Ryo shook his head. "Some people don't really have a problem with attacking humans directly. The good news is that it looks like they really didn't harm you."

After agreeing on that point, they all left and returned to Oldale Town.

It took them about twenty-five minutes to return to Oldale Pokémon Center. They had successfully closed the entrance and collected the gems.. They chose a slower pace to avoid being jumped again, even though Team Magma had already abandoned the site.

When they got back, George smiled and said to Kyle and Casey, "Thank you both for coming with me."

"You're quite welcome," Casey said with a smile. "I wish it would have gone smoother, but I suppose everyone did get what they wanted in the end… Even those Team Magma goons."

"Don't worry about it too much," Kyle suggested. "If all they wanted were a bunch of pictures… Yes, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense the extent to which they went to get those pictures, but it ended up relatively harmless in the end."

"Indeed... I'm sorry that you ended up getting involved in something like that with those Team Magma people," George said, his head hanging low.

"I'm just glad that you didn't try to go alone," Kyle said. "Who knows what they would have done to you if we hadn't been there? They didn't seem like the nicest bunch."

Ryo nodded and turned to Kyle. "I have to wonder if they're any better than Team Rocket was back home?"

"Who's Team Rocket?" George asked. "I remember Casey mentioning them earlier, during our fight."

"They're a criminal syndicate from back where we come from, the 'mainland' as they called it," Kyle responded. "They exploit Pokémon from all over for their own personal gain."

"They might claim to be doing this for the good of Pokémon, but their methods…" George said, his voice trailing off at the end.

Casey decided to jump in before they spent the rest of the night contemplating Magma versus Rocket. "Just relax and head back to Slateport. Tell your colleagues about what you found here!"

George bowed to them both. "Thank you very much. Maybe we'll see each other again!" With that, he walked out of the Pokémon Center to begin the trek back to Slateport.

Ryo, meanwhile, turned to stare at the picture taken by Kyle. The odd creature that the giant was taking on looked like nothing he could see on his Pokédex. None of the entries looked anything like that. _What could it possibly mean?_ He wondered.

The answers certainly wouldn't come tonight, nor would they likely come from this picture. Instead, they went to bed and finally received some well-deserved sleep.

Next chapter: Josh makes it to Petalburg City and meets with the local Gym Leader. And, another team gets its start in Hoenn.


	2. Wally's First Steps

Digicross Advanced Alpha Chapter 2: "Wally's First Steps or The Rockets' Red Glare"

The peace of the town was broken by a young man entering Petalburg City. It was around noon when he got to the city limits. He breathed deeply and then smiled. "The air in this city smells wonderful. Now, where is that Gym...?"

To put it mildly, Josh had failed at his self-appointed task of reaching Petalburg from Littleroot in a single day. About halfway down Route 102, Josh finally ran out of energy and collapsed like his strings were cut.

It had happened right in the middle of Route 102 and without much warning. One minute, he was jogging hard towards Petalburg; the next, he was staggering off the path, collapsing at the base of a tree. Fortunately, because it was nighttime when it happened, no other trainers bugged him. That said, a Wurmple used his lap as a bed for a bit, but left before the sun rose.

Shortly after waking up, Josh stretched, dusted himself off and finished the trip to Petalburg City that he had started yesterday. As he approached, he saw a sign noting the city limits. On the city-side, there was notice of the distance to Oldale Town (24.5 km) and a short description of what could be found on Route 102. In his mind, he had arrived about eighteen hours late. Blowing through the city was a pleasant scent of flowers, taking his mind off his supposed failure in arriving yesterday. "It's time," he told himself as he walked into deeper into the city.

At this time of day, there was a number of people out and about. Some of them were salaried workers, coming back from lunch to return to their jobs. There were also trainers, some looking happier than others; they probably came from the Pokémon Gym. As he walked, his stomach began rumbling loudly. He looked down at his stomach and then realized that in his haste to get here, he had barely eaten anything yesterday. _Maybe I should go eat something before I try the Gym..._

Josh continued walking around people. The small ponds within the city borders were fringed by a number of flowering plants. This was the source of the aroma which seemed to waft through the city; that and the flower shops in town which took advantage of these plants.

He made his way to a small deli nearby and ordered a sandwich which he shared with Blade. After all, if they weren't both in top form, there was no way they would ever defeat the Gym Leader. Josh smiled at Blade and said, "We're going to stop worrying about what happened and start worrying about the future. A future we'll create together."

"Treecko!" Blade responded.

By now, the time was nearing 1:30 PM, and he thought it was high time he went to the Gym to challenge the Gym Leader. Looking at a nearby city map, he saw the Gym just four blocks away, so Josh set off.

After walking for another couple minutes, he found the Gym near the dead center of the City. The outside of the building was rather unremarkable: it was a gray building with an orange roof. The only real sign that this was the right building was a sign next to it with the word GYM in large letters. Near the door was a placard with the following description: "Petalburg City Gym Leader: Norman 'A man in search of power.'"

Josh's palms were suddenly sweaty, his pulse hammering at an incredible rate, and his breathing increased pace dramatically. It had been easy up until now to say all of the things that he had. Now he was right in front of the Gym, about to face the first challenge of his short career as a Pokémon Trainer. All of that courage and bravado he'd shown Treecko washed away, leaving behind a very nervous trainer.

It took a few minutes for him to build up the courage to step forward and open the sliding doors leading into the Gym. As his eyes adjusted to the darker interior, he found himself taking in all of the sights. The floor was made entirely out of uncarpeted wood. The lighting in the room was relatively dim, with only sunlight streaming in from the relatively small windows.

In front of Josh was a stage which was raised up by several feet; he could see the floor almost at eye level. Stairs led to a polished platform covered in thatch mats. Raising his eyes higher, Josh saw a lone profile standing, arms akimbo, backlit by a single spotlight. The profile was of a man, well built, with a look of absolute seriousness chiseled on his visage. In Josh's mind, he was throwing off an aura of power and intimidation.

"Can I help you?" he asked. He sounded as serious as the look he was giving Josh.

Josh staggered backwards, his mind already telling him that this encounter was going to be trouble. "I-I'm looking for the Gym Leader, sir."

Seeing how the young man before him was about to bolt from fright, the man on stage relaxed slightly. "Tell me, are you a new Trainer?"

The look on Josh's face went from fright to surprise. "How did you know that?"

The man smiled and said, "I've been around for long enough to recognize that look. You've just stepped into your very first Pokémon Gym. You have every single right to be frightened."

Josh explained to him that he had only started his Pokémon journey yesterday. To make things less complicated, he lied about receiving Treecko from Mewtwo and claimed that he had only received it from Professor Birch when he started his journey. "Excuse me," the man interrupted, "But, aren't you a little bit old to be only just starting your Pokémon journey?"

In a similar fashion to the point about Treecko, Josh lied to make things less complicated. "I wanted to finish school before I made a commitment of this level."

"A scholar," he said. "I can certainly appreciate that." He crossed his arms, growing serious. "I'm sorry, but you're nowhere close to ready to take me on."

It only took a moment for the pieces to fall into place. "So, that makes you the leader of this Gym?" Josh asked.

"Correct," the man said. "My name is Norman. I run the Petalburg Gym."

Josh took another step back. In his mind's eye the aura of power turned into a raging fire and seemed to fill the room, blackening out everything but Norman's hellfire-filled eyes. He was about to turn and bolt when, from another room came a decidedly female voice. "Dad, do you really have to scare every single rookie Trainer who comes into this Gym?"

A door to Norman's left opened and from it came a young, lady with a bright red bandanna on. She took one look at Josh and sighed exasperatedly, "You're going to scare him away from ever training Pokémon again!"

The fire-backed demonic Norman disappeared, and in its place the joyful fully human man turned to his daughter, laughing. "May, I'm not trying to scare him. He's got this idea in his head of a Gym Leader and that's what is scaring him now."

The fright had been tempered a bit by the appearance of May. He hesitantly walked toward the stage. "I'm sorry about that, sir..." He still sounded very meek.

"I'm not going to bite!" Norman said with a laugh. "You don't need to be so scared of me! You will never get anywhere as a Trainer if that's how you're going to act."

"Dad isn't nearly as scary as you're making him out to be," May said, trying to calm him down.

Josh took a deep breath and then apologized a second time. "I don't know what came over me."

"Don't apologize," Norman insisted. "You did a very brave thing. You took the first step toward being a Pokémon Trainer. You stepped in here, ready to do battle." Seeing Josh's mood not really improving, he thought for a moment. He snapped his fingers and said, "What you need right now is a lesson on Pokémon training. A confidence booster of sorts."

Josh's first reaction was to flinch. His mind went to one singular possibility; one Norman was quick to disprove. "I told you before. I will not battle you right now. I just want the chance to talk with you for a few minutes."

Josh's heart rate calmed. Things were different from before. He was different. Norman wasn't his-. He stopped that mental tangent forcefully. "What did you have in mind?" he asked.

"A simple walk around the Gym while we chat," the Gym Leader said.

"You can meet the rest of our family," May suggested.

"That's an excellent idea, May," Norman smiled.

None of this sounded dangerous to his mind, so he walked forward. Before stepping on stage, he was encouraged to remove his shoes. It was only now that Josh noticed several pairs of shoes next to the stairs leading up onto the stage. Josh complied with this request and all three of them walked through the door on the opposite side of the stage from the one May had just entered the entry hall from.

Having recovered from their escapades the previous night, Ryo, Kyle and Casey were walking the route between Oldale Town and Petalburg City. Ryo still hadn't come up with an answer which satisfied him on the riddle presented the previous night.

That mysterious creature taking on what the Pokédex had called a Groudon, which was supposed to be legendary for some reason. And it bothered him that neither the 'Dex nor he could recognize it.

Instead of dwelling on that, Casey had provided the distraction of seeking out the trainer who had received Treecko from Professor Birch yesterday. While it was a less than ideal distraction, it did provide a reason for them to remain together for at least a few more hours.

"I wonder what kind of trainer they are," Casey wondered aloud.

Kyle thought about it and added, "If he was on the same ferry as us, it will have been three of us on the same ferry. And Ryo as well, but he's in a league of his own."

"Thanks, I think." Ryo replied. "We'll see if I even have time to take on the Hoenn League while I'm here."

The three of them continued walking west toward Petalburg City.

At Petalburg Gym, Josh, Norman and May walked the halls behind the stage. This was the place where Norman lived as well as where he worked. Josh had the opportunity to meet Norman's son, Max, and his wife, Caroline.

Seeing Norman as a family man calmed Josh more, and their discussion, more so.. They talked more about why Josh had waited so long to begin his Pokémon journey. "Most trainers I've ever heard of want out the door as soon as possible."

"Well, I didn't feel it was right to commit to something long-term until I finished school."

Norman laughed again. "If every trainer could show your level of patience, everyone would be a master trainer!"

Josh laughed a bit at that. He hadn't told Norman everything; like the fact that he was originally from another world and immigrated only recently to his listed home on Cinnabar Island.

"I want to see you succeed, as I do with all trainers. So, I have a few words of wisdom to pass on." Norman said with a smile.

"Yes, sir," Josh said in a neutral tone.

"Before I do so, please stop calling me sir," the Gym Leader suggested. "You're making me feel older than I actually am, and I have to stop myself from looking around for my father."

"Yes, sir- uh, Norman," Josh answered.

Norman sighed humorously and carried on. "First off, some advice I can't normally give trainers, because they're young and impatient: take your time. There is truly no need for you to rush." Josh nodded in acknowledgement as he continued. "Most trainers have only one year to reach Ever Grande Island for the Hoenn League Championships. Put simply, you have as much time as you need. So, don't do what you did in getting here."

Josh laughed nervously, "I was just so anxious to get started that I ran head first into it."

"Well, slow down!" Norman said with enthusiasm. "Don't feel like you have to rush. You have the luxury of time. Take advantage of it."

Josh nodded and said nothing. He was about to call Norman 'sir' again, so he simply refrained from talking. They continued walking laps around the gym, going through rooms which were empty today. "I don't even know why you thought you needed to rush. It's not as though you're running away from something, or that someone is chasing you. Relax."

Mentally, the young man winced at that last statement. While it was certainly true that no one was chasing him, he was running for a reason that he didn't want to tell anyone else. Norman pretended he didn't see the wince. Obviously he was running, if the reports from Birch on what Samuel Oak said were true, but it was to find himself rather than out of fear. Norman wouldn't do anything unless Josh asked him, or if trouble came to his door.

Norman moved on from this topic and began discussing his next major point. "One thing you cannot, should not, ever do is push your Pokémon too hard. I have seen many trainers over the years decide that they need to try and craft an artificial advantage for themselves against whatever self-created rival they have in their own heads."

"Isn't it human nature to seek out an advantage wherever we can obtain it?" Josh asked, sounding curious.

"Indeed," he said with a nod. "But pushing your Pokémon to the point of exhaustion is a very good way to lose their trust really fast. And that is one commodity you cannot afford to lose. If your Pokémon don't trust that you have their best interests at heart, they may not listen to you in that big battle, or if, heaven forbid, you get into a life-or-death scenario."

The last part of that made Josh physically and mentally wince. The image of being in a life-threatening situation while one's Pokémon stood by and just watched callously was tragic. "What a horrible way to go..." Josh said, sounding a little depressed.

"Indeed," the Gym Leader responded. "More often than not, it's the former which puts an early end to the careers of trainers. They can't get past the trust barrier, their Pokémon refuse to listen, and the next thing you know, they're out of the running for whatever competition they're working toward. Just remember this: if you want your Pokémon to be loyal to you, you need to be loyal to them first."

Josh was reminded of a couple of people for whom loyalty was an especially strong trait. Their partners, Pokémon, Digimon, or some hybrid between, were strongly empowered by loyalty, so the message about being loyal to each other made a lot of sense to him. "When you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. People forget that these creatures are living beings with feelings."

Norman nodded sadly. "I wish more people thought like that. I really do. There are those who think that to be the best means to be cold-hearted and mean and are completely misguided."

Josh nodded in complete agreement.

"Now, onto point number three I will make today," Norman said. He took a moment to think about it and then he said, "I've told you not to push yourself too hard and to do the same with your Pokémon. The third piece of advice has nothing to do with any of that." After another moment, he continued, "Those of us who have been lucky enough to become Gym Leaders and even those of us who have ascended beyond that level to that of Hoenn's Elite Four tend to have affinity for certain types of Pokémon. For example, my Gym specializes in Normal-type Pokémon, which is my personal specialty, too. "

Josh nodded lightly. "I remember hearing something about that. That's part of the reason why you become a Gym Leader, isn't it? Because you work well with a particular Pokémon type?"

"I would be lying if I said it wasn't part of the reason. It's one thing to like a particular type; it's another entirely to know the ins and outs of your chosen type, both the strengths and the weaknesses. And, most importantly, to be able to compensate for your weaknesses without straying from your chosen type," Norman explained, seeming happier to be able to explain it.

Josh sweatdropped and looked at Norman. "That sounds like a lot of work, to be honest."

Norman looked at him with a smile on his face. "I never said it was easy, young man. And that's exactly why you shouldn't even attempt to do the same thing as any of us. You aren't held back by the same limitations that we are, so construct your team as you see fit. Cover your team's weaknesses when you can. For example, to cover your Treecko's weakness to Fire-types, you could catch a Water-type like a Wingull or a Rock-type like Geodude. And build from there, each one complimenting each other Pokémon."

All of this seemed incredibly obvious, but the fact that he actually had to say something about it spoke volumes about the fact that this aspect of team building was sometimes overlooked by novice trainers. "While you can certainly use many kinds of Pokémon in your team, and I completely encourage you to experiment to find what works for you… going in with certain principles in mind will help you narrow your search to certain kinds of Pokémon."

Josh nodded and thought about how to support Blade, his Treecko, in combat. "Professor Birch thinks there's somewhere in the realm of 200 Pokémon here in Hoenn, so you'll certainly find a set of six that's right for you. Just don't be afraid to look everywhere to find them. Outside of cities, you'll find them everywhere. So, go nuts. Explore anywhere your feet and your Pokémon can take you. You never know what you'll find around the next bend," Norman finished, patting Josh on the back to get him out of the tank.

Josh jumped a little bit and then looked back at Norman. "That makes sense. Different environments would have different varieties of creatures inhabiting them."

By this point, they had completed three full laps of the Gym structure and had come back out front. "There's one last thing I would definitely consider doing, though I'm not entirely sure how you would do it. You really need to try and resolve whatever is keeping you down. Your Pokémon will pick up on what vibes you're putting out and react to it."

"Where does that suggestion come from?" Josh asked.

Norman patted Josh on the back again. "You came in here incredibly timid and you really haven't improved at all. You need to try and pick it up a bit. I don't mean becoming someone who needs to bounce off walls all the time, but… Chill out. Have fun. You don't need to be serious all the time."

Josh sighed loudly upon hearing that. "I wish I could do exactly that. I wish I could have normality with my moods. But, that seems to be painfully out of reach lately. Sometimes, I will have days like yesterday, where I'm so far up that I feel like I could climb the highest mountain. Other times, I have days like today, where I can't get myself out of my own funk to save my life."

Before Norman could even respond to that statement, the sliding doors opened again. Into the gym walked a young child with bright green hair. "Um… excuse me, Mr. Norman?" Both of them turned toward the child.

Norman began to smile. "Ah, you must be Wally."

The child nodded to confirm this and then asked, "I'm going to live with my uncle in Verdanturf, but before I go, I was told that you might help me catch a Pokémon…"

Norman saw this as an opportunity and nodded his head. "Come here for a moment." Wally walked forward as the Gym Leader produced a Poké Ball out of his pocket. "This Zigzagoon is one of my prized Pokémon. However, you're not going to take that, at least not so directly."

Wally blinked a couple of times. "I'm not?"

Norman shook his head and then looked over at Josh. "You're going to go with this young man here and catch your own Pokémon to take with you to Verdanturf."

Josh blinked himself. "I am?" he asked, sounding quite surprised.

"You are," Norman responded. "It's the least you can do after I gave you all that advice just now." Of course, he had another reason for sending him on this little field trip, but he wasn't going to say anything about that right now.

After hesitating for a moment, Josh agreed to this request from the Gym Leader. With that out of the way, Norman handed Wally his Poké Ball as well as a single empty one. "Use it wisely," he advised.

Wally took both, thanked the Gym Leader and Josh for their generosity and walked out. Josh followed closely behind.

Once outside, Josh suggested, "We should try on Route 102. My guess is that there will be more possible Pokémon for you to catch."

Wally nodded, agreeing with that. Together, they walked east out onto Route 102. And about twenty minutes later, they arrived at the western end of Route 102. Josh watched from a safe distance as Wally stepped into the grass. "So, I just keep looking around until I find the Pokémon I want?"

"That's exactly right," Josh replied. Wally didn't have long to wait before a new Pokémon appeared from the brush. It was a small, mostly white Pokémon with what looked like a distinctive green cap on its head and a pair of horns protruding from that cap. Both were red, the one in back being smaller than the one in front.

Josh pulled out his new Pokédex and pointed it at the creature. "Dexter, what's that?" he asked, as though the device could hear him.

Dex came to life, folding open and revealing a picture of the Pokémon in question. "Ralts, the feeling Pokémon; this Pokémon rarely approaches humans. It will remain close to the human if it senses feelings of joy and happiness."

Josh blinked a couple of times before noting to himself, _That seems appropriate for him. Someone like that wouldn't be approaching me right now._ He then said to Wally, "Go for it, Wally! There's a reason it appeared before you now!"

Wally blushed and shouted back, "If you say so!" He then concentrated on the Ralts in front of him. "Go, Zigzagoon!" He threw the Ball lent to him by Norman. From it popped out a small raccoon Pokémon. It bounded around in a circle for a few moments before it stopped and faced it's opponent.

Wally knew the first move he needed to make. "Zigzagoon, tackle Ralts!" The raccoon jumped around a few times before finally charging at Ralts. Ralts fell backwards, looking mildly injured.

Ralts retaliated with a very underwhelming growling attack. All it really accomplished was intimidating Zigzagoon a little bit.

Wally turned back to Josh. "Should I throw it now?"

Josh thought about it and then shook his head. "No, I would attack again. Ralts still seems too energetic to me. Besides, that growling attack seems to have frightened Zigzagoon. It shouldn't take it down!"

Wally nodded and followed that advice. Mercifully for all involved, Josh wasn't wrong. The attack hit and inflicted some more damage, but it failed to take it out entirely. Ralts countered with another growling attack.

About a hundred meters away, on the other side of a thick copse of bushes, Kyle, Casey and Ryo approached Petalburg City. The question of the identity of the mystery trainer was really getting to Casey. "Augh!" she shouted. "Who could it be?"

Kyle sweatdropped. "Just relax already. Stressing out like this won't help."

As they continued walking, they began to hear the sounds of battle a bit away. The trees to their left prevented a clear line of sight with the combat. But, they began to hear two distinct voices. "Should I try to catch it now?" A very young, male sounding voice asked.

Another male voice, although much older and oddly familiar responded, "It should be weak enough now. Do it!"

Casey was about to shoot out, but Ryo grabbed her on the shoulder and shook his head as if to say 'wait a second'. Reluctantly, she complied.

On the other side, Wally threw his Poké Ball at Ralts. With the Pokémon breathing heavily from exertion, it put up little resistance to the capture process. It was caught after the light on the ball turned from red to white.

The moment this happened, Wally walked over and took it. "I did it..." He said quietly at first. Then, he shouted out, "I did it! I caught a Ralts!" Zigzagoon leapt around Wally's feet, excited for him.

"Congratulations," Josh said with a smile. "You've got a brand-new companion and we can head back to Petalburg now."

Wally recalled Zigzagoon and walked over to him. "Thank you so much, Josh."

Around the corner, Ryo's eyes narrowed. _There's no way it could be the same guy..._

"You're quite welcome, Wally. Now, let's go give Norman his Pokémon back, okay?" Josh asked.

"Sure thing! Let's go!" Wally and Josh departed for Petalburg.

As soon as they had walked a few steps, Kyle, Casey and Ryo emerged. "You really think it's him?" Kyle asked.

"No," Ryo replied honestly. "And I would honestly prefer to be wrong. But, on the off chance that it is him, we can't ignore it."

They agreed to follow at a safe distance and then find out if it really is him at Petalburg Gym.

Josh and Wally re-entered the Gym about twenty minutes later. Norman could tell right away that everything went well, simply by looking at Wally and his beaming face. "What did you catch?" He asked, genuinely curious.

"I caught a Ralts!" Wally shouted back.

"Those are quite rare," he noted. "Well done. Now, you will always have a companion, no matter where you go."

Wally, remembering his upcoming move, lost a little of his brightness. Josh knelt down and told him, "Remember... Ralts can feel your emotions. You don't want it to go tearing off because you're gloomy, do ya?"

Wally gasped and shook his head. "Then remember to keep your head high and your attitude up. Go knock 'em out in Verdanturf, will ya?" Josh finished with a smile.

Wally was frozen for a few moments, before he nodded and began to grin. "Here is your Pokémon, Mr. Norman." He walked up and handed back the loaner Pokémon.

Norman accepted it and smiled back. "Good luck in the future."

Wally waved as he left. "Thanks again, both of you!" Wally walked out of the Gym.

Outside, Kyle, Casey and Ryo watched as Wally walked back to his house to prepare for his move. Once he was away, they moved up to the door. Kyle stuck his ear near the door.

Back inside, Josh looked back to the Gym Leader. "So, how was it?" Norman asked. "You seemed a bit happier when you came back in."

Josh chuckled quietly. "That kid has enough sunshine in him that he could light up the darkest cave in the world on his own."

"That's exactly my point," the Gym Leader said sternly. "You're allowing your own self-admitted problems get to you. Wally is facing one of the more traumatic things that could happen to a kid his age: he's being uprooted to a new city and leaving his friends behind. But you saw how he was; his disposition is so wonderful that it's impossible not to be cheered up."

Josh sighed again. "Yeah, it could be a lot worse."

"It could also be a lot better, young man." Norman chided. "You said you came here alone, yes?"

"Yeah, I did. It's...complicated." Josh said, getting closer to going back inside his shell.

Norman shook his head. "I don't much need to know everything. What I do know is that you don't have an external support system. So, all of your strength must come from within."

"I know that," Josh responded. "But, that's all I've had to rely on for years. I know all about relying only on myself."

The conversation would have continued for a few more minutes along this train. But, the sliding doors opened, followed by a voice at the door. "You don't have to do it alone!"

Josh winced and bit back a resigned groan before turning to the door. He recognized the voice and knew that he had a problem. Josh turned to see not only Ryo standing there, but also two other Digidestined: Kyle and Casey. "What are you three doing here?"

"That doesn't matter right now," Ryo said. "Why did you come here?"

Josh replied, "To get a new start on a new life."

"By running away from your friends?" Ryo fired back.

Josh shook his head vigorously. "That's not what I meant and you know it!"

Before he could yell again, Kyle stepped in and intervened. "I heard some of what's going on with you. Let us help you get through it... together."

"You'll be putting yourselves in danger!" Josh insisted.

"Did that honestly matter in the past? Please, just let us help now," Kyle finished with a much quieter voice than when he started.

Before this could go any further, Norman intervened. "Personally, I think you should take their offer."

"Oh, not you too..." Josh said, sounding exasperated.

"From what little I can gather, you know these people already. They're offering to share your burden. To me, it sounds more like foolish pride preventing you from taking the offer they are making to you." Norman said, being blunt about it.

Once again, this sounded like it should have been completely obvious. But, hearing it coming from the mouth of someone who had known him for only two hours was especially scathing. Josh was about to put up a defense to this remark, but even he could see that he was not going to win this one.

The statement became especially true when Ryo said, "I'm not leaving here until you decide to come with us. We can stand here for the rest of the week if we have to."

Kyle poked Ryo lightly on the shoulder and said quietly, "I think we'd likely all end up dying of thirst before then… just saying."

Before they could go any further, Josh sighed loudly. "All right, fine. You win! I'll come with you."

"Thank you," Ryo said. "Like it or not, fighting… whatever it is that's going on with you, going at it alone is a good way to just get yourself in further trouble. We have to stick together on this."

Casey, having long since felt like she was out of the loop on this conversation, interjected, "If nothing else, I have more than enough energy for both of us!"

An awkward silence followed this strange statement. At that point, she asked, "What?"

"I don't think any of us would deny that…" Kyle said with a quiet sigh.

Josh turned to Norman and stuck his hand out. "Thank you, Norman."

Norman smiled and shook the offered hand. "Like I told you, Josh. I want the best for all trainers that come through that door. One day, when you have collected enough badges and feel that you're strong enough, come back. I'll give you a good challenge."

The four of them walked out of the Gym and took a rest at the Pokémon Center for the day. As far as they were concerned, they would hit the road toward Rustboro tomorrow. Casey thought about probing further into things, but given that the team had only just formed minutes ago, she didn't want to do something which would break it apart again.

And while Josh seemed like he was reverting back to his anti-social self from before the days of the war against Demon, the truth was far more complicated than that. But, all of that was for another day.

Later than evening, Norman sat in his personal study, his computer in front of him with Josh's Hoenn dossier loaded and opened. As with all Pokémon trainers on the League track-especially Trainers of Interest, there were notes made by all gym leaders, League officials, and professors the trainer met with. Under normal circumstances, this was a note on how the trainer was progressing, and anything of interest. Under abnormal circumstances, it was filled with observations and concerns.

Norman began typing. _Trainer approached Petalburg Gym at approximately 1320 today. Outside cameras showed him standing hesitant for several minutes. Upon entry, trainer was incredibly hesitant and timid…_ This went on for a while as Norman detailed what happened. He ended his report, _The trainer left Petalburg gym with friends who intend to help him. If trainer does not show a drastic change for the positive by Mauville, I recommend he sees a League therapist, possibly for medication to combat his unstable emotions._

Norman reread what he had typed and then saved it, uploading the report to the League's servers. Josh would receive the help he needed, one way or another. He shut down the system and walked out of the room. Norman grinned. He should thank his wife for getting him out his funk, back when his journey was just beginning. After his kids were asleep, that is.

-Meanwhile, in Kanto…-

A trio of Team Rocket members with a rather… special ability to mess things up had been dreading this day for a long time. For a long time, their mission had been an incredibly simple one: to capture a Pikachu held by Ash Ketchum. Well, it wasn't their mission originally, but they made it their mission after a fateful encounter one night in Viridian City.

For two long years, they pursued that Pokémon and its trainer. They got close several times to finally catching it. But, each attempt would ultimately end in failure. They lost hundreds of thousands of Poké-Dollars attempting to catch it.

And now, at long last, that mission had come to its painful end. With Ash deciding to return to finish school following his Top 8 finish in the Silver Conference of the Johto League, Pikachu was put in the care of Professor Oak, because he knew very well that they would return over and over again to try and steal it while he wasn't around to take care of it.

Of course, they'd tried a couple of times to steal it. But between the numerous anti-Rocket traps they'd encountered as well as a couple of odd Pokémon who could talk like their Meowth could, they knew that the time had come to finally return to the main base and hope that the new Boss would be more lenient than Giovanni would have been.

"Who would have guessed that a simple Pikachu would vex us so?" a red-haired female asked as the three of them stood in front of the door to their Boss's office.

"It was no ordinary Pikachu," a blue-haired male replied. "The trainer himself was cause for more than a few headaches."

"Instead of nabbing that Pikachu," Meowth said, "We ended up nabbing a whole lotta nuttin'. He was unique, both in that he was one of the rare talking Pokémon, but also because he sounded like he was from Chicago (incidentally, the Rocket scientist's file on his particular vocabulistics was so large, it took up its own filing cabinet; and they still were no closer to understanding how he spoke, much less why he spoke that particular way).

All three of them sighed and then they knocked on the wooden door. "Come in," came a male voice from inside. They opened the door and could see the current highest-ranking officer in the Team Rocket hierarchy. He was a man with teal hair, cut very short. Instead of the usual uniform, he chose to wore mostly white, with a Rocket Emblem on the right side of his shirt, surrounded by black.

"Ah… you three," he said. "I take it that you've come back because that trainer finally decided to put his training career on hold?"

The three of them looked surprised that the new Boss knew so much already. "Y-yes, sir," the redhead responded.

"That's what I thought," he said, leaning back in his chair. "It is a shame that you couldn't catch a Pokémon such as Pikachu, but perhaps Lord Giovanni expected too much from you to be able to stop that trainer. After all, he has consistently been a Top 8 trainer, so it was to be expected."

The blue-haired trainer looked quite surprised. "S-sir? Are you sure you should be pouring such praise upon that little twirp?"

The Boss leaned forward and asked, "Would you prefer if I insulted you instead?"

All three of them panicked and yelled out, "No, that's okay!" at the same time.

He chuckled and leaned back. "While **he** certainly won't be happy with this turn of events, the good news for you is that I happen to have another assignment ready for you to take on today."

The man asked, "What is it?" incredibly anxiously.

Another chuckle came from the Boss. "I'm glad you asked, James. You see, ever since Lord Giovanni was thrown into prison, he has been sending me some orders to consolidate our holdings throughout the world. He seems to think that something is going to happen in the very near future."

James turned to his partner and asked, "What could he think is going to happen, Jess?"

"How should I know?" Jessie replied. "We've been out of the loop for a long time now."

"It happens when you're chasing a Pikachu for two whole years!" Meowth shouted.

The man cleared his throat, bringing their attention back to him. "Now, then… Lord Giovanni believes that something is going to happen. From what limited information he has given me, he thinks it is somehow related to the events which occurred at Indigo Plateau earlier this year."

Meowth had a bit of a brain wave. "Oh yeah… That whole mess with the giant… uh… what was it called again?" Sadly, the wave didn't exactly last long.

The Boss shook his head. "It's called a Digimon, generally. Specifically, I believe the name I've heard tossed around is Demon, though I admit to knowing absolutely nothing about the topic."

After a few moments of silence, Jessie asked the question which was on all three of their minds. "With all due respect, what are we supposed to do with this information, sir?"

"I was just getting to that," he said, leaning back in his chair again. "Lord Giovanni wants me to send out a detail to try and find our branch in the Hoenn region."

"We have a branch in the Hoenn region?" James asked. "I thought we were just here on the mainland."

"You're not the only one who thought that, James," the Boss said, sounding sympathetic. "I didn't know we had a branch in the Hoenn region. But, Lord Giovanni said we do, and he wants me to find them. For a team which has been all the way around the mainland and back again, a mission such as this should be child's play."

This last compliment was enough to finally convince Jessie that this was the best course of action open to them. "We should go and try and find this secret Team Rocket base in Hoenn. We could get back on a winning streak!"

"Sure would be nice after bein' losers for the past two years," Meowth said, sounding more upbeat.

"Besides, how hard can it be to find a Team Rocket base?" Jessie asked.

James finally grinned and yelled, "This is one mission even we can't screw up!"

"Exactly!" The new Boss yelled. "Now get out there and show us all why you belong on this team!"

"Yeah!" all three of them shouted before they tore off for their signature balloon. Never mind the fact that a helicopter would have been faster...

Back in the boss's room, the new head honcho laid back, sighing loudly and rubbed his forehead. How they could give him a headache that quickly, he wasn't certain he wanted to know. A woman dressed very similarly to the current boss with vibrant red hair entered the room from another door. "So, you managed to get those three to leave, huh?"

The man looked over at the woman and shook his head. "It was like pulling teeth, Ariana... I would have thought for sure that they would jump at the chance to get back on our good side."

"Never underestimate stupid, Archer," Ariana advised. "Good advice both to be a leader on this team and life in general."

Archer nodded quickly in agreement. "No kidding. Still, it was good to give those bumbling idiots a mission they could actually accomplish."

"You're treading on very thin ice," Ariana warned. "Lord Giovanni will be quite angry if they come up with nothing."

Archer began to smirk. "Will he really know if they simply failed? Lord Giovanni described it as dormant. For all we know, they don't exist anymore."

Ariana frowned at exactly how deceptive he was being right now toward their boss. "If they do find them, they curry favor and so do I. If they don't, I claim they didn't find them because they don't exist. I still win, either way. " Archer finished, grinning.

"Just be careful... that's my only advice to you," Ariana finished before returning to her office.

An hour after they received their new mission, and after receiving a small amount of money to sustain them, Jessie, James and Meowth took off towards the Hoenn region. Their signature Meowth-shaped balloon took off from Celadon City and headed southwest.

"Finally! A mission which has nothing to do with twerps and catching Pokémon!" James exclaimed.

"We definitely needed a vacation and this is it!" Jessie shouted.

"Only thing we need to worry about now is how we're going to find that base!" Meowth yelled.

Then, together, they delivered a variation of their usual 'outro'. "Team Rocket is floating away again!" Unlike most times when they delivered that line, they were leaving under their own volition.

A number of miles to the south of the Rockets, a giant, rock-like bird flew above the island of Cinnabar at roughly 60 knots. This was the prehistoric winged lizard called Aerodactyl. It had been revived by modern technology. It was a living oxymoron.

On top of said oxymoron was a young trainer. You could see her brown hair as the sun began to set in the distance. Her attire was appropriate for a warmer climate: a red hooded t-shirt, black track pants with zippers on the sides and black sneakers.

The look on her face was... less than pleased, to say the least. "I can't believe that Ryo just shot through without telling me. Well, I'll show that bloke."

After a few moments, she realized what she was saying and shouted, "I'm turning into a Kiwi!" The rest of her trip was silent, fearing further 'Kiwi-fication'.

Back at Petalburg Pokémon Center, Ryo finished penning a letter. He walked up to the desk and asked, "Where is the nearest postal box?"

Nurse Joy pointed outside and said, "Just outside and to the left."

"I think I glanced at it earlier, but I was too distracted with other things," Ryo admitted before thanking the nurse and stepping outside. It was a little dark out there, but he found the box with relative ease.

The letter was addressed to his aunt, Prima, back on Cinnabar Island. And while he knew it would be a few days before she read the contents, news needed to reach the rest of the Digidestined as soon as possible.

Next chapter: The team heads for Rustboro City. But, first they need to catch some Pokémon. And what happens when a group of poachers meets the team?

Disclaimer: The character of the unwilling Kiwi, Caryl Kyashi, belongs to said author.


	3. On the Road

Far away from Hoenn, on the isle of Cinnabar, life went on for the rest of Josh's family. Jake and Kristen still went to school; albeit on the island in a parallel world, rather than back in Los Angeles. Gail did what she could to keep things together in this unfamiliar world. Being the only parent, she had to. Agumon and Socramon hung around, helping out where they could.

It was now the third day since Josh had left for Hoenn. And, to their immense relief, no member of the Digidestined had come to check on him. That had become a regular occurrence after he started exhibiting the mood swings which have since become commonplace for him. Sometimes, it was to hang out and be pals, but lately it was mostly a lot of questions about why these swings were happening.

This was not counting Ryo, though. He lived the equivalent of a couple of blocks away, so he came over more often for the first reason than the second.

Today, however, their luck ran out, as they knew it would eventually. A knock came at the door and Gail, Josh's mother, went to answer it.

When she opened the door, she saw a child with goggles on his head. It was, of course, Davis. And, as expected, he stood there with his Digimon partner, Veemon. "Hello there, Ms— uh— Josh's mom!" He never could figure out how to pronounce the family surname, so that was the term he used.

"Hi, Davis," Gail replied. "I presume you're here to see Josh?"

"Yeah," he said with a smile. "Just felt like hanging out today."

Gail thought about how she wanted to handle this for a moment before answering him. "Come inside for a few minutes. I've got something I need to tell you about."

Davis tilted his head slightly. "Okay," he said before walking into the house.

Inside, he saw Jake playing with Agumon. They both turned to see the gogglehead enter the room. "Hey there, Davis!" Jake shouted.

Davis looked at the two of them and waved back. "Yo! How are you doing?"

"Same old, same old," he said. "Doing school and all that."

"Yeah, I know that feeling—" Davis said, rubbing the back of his head. He then turned to Agumon, "How's it going, man?"

"It's going alright, Davis. Before I say anything else, I think you should listen to Mom and see what she has to say," Agumon said.

Veemon walked over to Agumon and smiled. "If you don't mind, I'm just going to hang out over here with you guys."

They all agreed and sat away from the discussion about to take place. Jake played with some kind of handheld gaming system while the two Digimon did some backseat gaming.

Gail sat down on the sofa and turned to Davis. "About Josh, you're not going to find him here for quite a while to come."

Davis walked over and sat down in a nearby chair. "What's going on?" he asked.

"About two weeks ago, Josh made the decision to head off to the Hoenn region and left earlier this week," she said.

"What? Why didn't he say anything about it to anyone else?" Davis asked, now genuinely confused.

"Well…" Gail hesitated to answer for a few moments, unsure of exactly how he'd take it.

Socramon, never one to mince words, spoke up. "He got sick of being constantly reminded of what happened between him and his father. He thought that if he had said anything to any of you… that you might try to tag along with him in spite of the fact that apparently Digimon are kind of useless over there."

Davis heard this and groaned. "He should have just spoken up and said something, you know? There was no need to just up and leave..."

Gail, after staring at Socramon for a few moments, leveled with him. "He wanted to make a truly fresh start of things. Constantly being reminded of Mike's actions wasn't helpful, that's for sure. But, it was about more than just getting away from all of the constant questions."

"Then, what was it really about?" Davis asked, his attention now completely with this conversation.

"What it's always about: independence,," she explained, "We're never going back to America—to our world—there are too many bad feelings there for us. And while we appreciate everyone's generosity in getting us here…"

She sighed, "Josh went there to try and find us a way to make it here. He gets that stubborn streak from my side of the family, thank god."

Davis just stared at Josh's mom for a minute while she tried to think about how to finish up her story. "So, basically, he left because he thought the way to get on in this world would be to become a Pokémon trainer?"

"That's pretty much it," she replied. "And before you ask why Agumon is here, let me remind you that Hoenn is apparently a region in which Digimon have never been sighted. So, he decided to play it safe by leaving Agumon here."

"It bites," Agumon interjected, "But, hopefully Josh will find what he's looking for over there."

"Why would he even want to go to a region in which Agumon couldn't go?" Davis asked. "You would think that he would want as much help as he can get."

"I can't argue with that logic," Gail answered. "But, I couldn't really argue with Josh's logic, either. He thought that in a region in which Digimon hadn't been seen, the chances of being interfered with by some sort of digital entity were smaller than they were if he'd decided to journey through Kanto or Johto instead."

Davis nodded his head and looked down for a moment. "You realize, of course, that I'm not going to keep this from our friends."

"Of course I did," Gail replied quickly. "I'm not an idiot. I knew this was going to happen. I just didn't know when. But, when you do tell your friends about it and you decide what to do about it, don't forget that Josh is his own man."

"I'm just worried about him is all," Davis admitted. "I don't want him to become the guy that Kari met back in Los Angeles again."

"And you think I don't worry about him every single day?" Gail asked. "You think we don't worry about him? All we can do is support his decision and know that he'll do whatever he can to get home safely."

Davis thought about this for a minute and nodded his head. "Okay. Can I ask you a question, Ms. Josh's mom?"

"Go right ahead," Gail said, quite used to the title by now.

"Would you mind if I stayed around and hung out anyway? I don't want to go home and hang out with my sister instead." Davis said nervously. He looked around as if afraid Jun would pop out from behind the couch and drag him away.

Agumon laughed lightly and said, "I don't really mind hanging out. You can come play this game with Jake."

"Yeah, Davish!" Veemon shouted. "It looks like a lot of fun. I'd play myself, but my claws aren't exactly designed for one of your human controllers."

Davis walked over and they played together for the rest of the day. Kristen occasionally came in to talk, but her interests sadly were more with dolls than video games.

Back in Hoenn, though, life wasn't nearly as carefree.

Digicross Advanced Alpha Chapter 3: "On the Road"

Having finally come together as an actual team, sort of, Ryo, Kyle, Josh and Casey walked out of Petalburg Pokémon Center. Casey stretched and breathed deeply. "Another beautiful day, isn't it?" She asked off-hand.

Kyle looked up towards the clear, blue skies above and responded, "I certainly can't complain about it. That's for sure."

Ryo was a bit more concerned about Josh than the weather. "How about you?"

Josh looked at him and nodded his head. "Feeling better, honestly. I tend to have both down and up days. Today is an up day."

"Are you sure it's not because you're now surrounded by friends?" Casey asked, sounding hopeful.

Josh shrugged his shoulders lightly, "I won't have any kind of answer for you until tomorrow."

"Then let's strike while we can," Ryo suggested. "You still have only Treecko, right?" Josh nodded in response. "Unless you're planning on taking my route, something I cannot recommend a rookie trying to do, you really need to catch another Pokémon quickly."

"Does it really matter which Pokémon I catch first?" Josh asked. "I know what Norman told me yesterday, but—"

"My recommendation would be to catch whatever you can," the ace responded. "You can worry about team building once you have some experience catching and training your Pokémon."

"That makes sense," Josh replied before they decided to head back to where Josh had assisted Wally the previous day.

Half a hour later, the four of them had made it to where Wally and Josh had caught Ralts. Like the day before, Josh wandered the tall grasses looking for a Pokémon to catch. Unlike yesterday, Kyle, Casey and Ryo stood a safe distance back, but within eyesight, looking to give him advice.

Ironically, the very first Pokémon he encountered was the very same species which had helped Wally catch Ralts: Zigzagoon. Kyle brought up his Pokédex and scanned the creature. "Zigzagoon, the tiny raccoon Pokémon. This Pokémon is intensely curious and will check out anything it can see," Dex chirped out.

Josh threw out his Poké Ball with the standard cry, "Go, Blade!" Treecko appeared on the field moments later after the Ball and got into a fighting pose. Zigzagoon continued to bound around the field seemingly at random.

"Use Pound now," Josh commanded. Blade shot in and swung its tail around before smacking Zigzagoon downward. The raccoon yelped before it got up and tackled Blade back, forcing it back.

Josh eyeballed Zigzagoon and thought that it was still too feisty to be contained within a Poké Ball. "Blade, pound it again!"

Unfortunately, this second attack had a fundamental difference to the first one. Blade swatted its tail upward rather than downward, creating an upward momentum. There was also the fact that Blade randomly chose now to get a Critical Hit.

Zigzagoon went flying over the trees at such a fast rate that Josh had no time to reach for a Poké Ball to intercept it. All three of Josh's teammates sweatdropped behind him. "I think that was a tad much," Kyle observed.

"Completely knocked it out of the park," agreed Casey.

"Blade doesn't know his own strength," Josh said, chuckling nervously. Blade, similarly, looked back at Josh and rubbed the back of his head, looking almost embarrassed. Trainer and Pokémon turned and walked deeper into the grass, their friends following.

Not far away, a man in a sort of pirate uniform facepalmed. _That kid must be a rookie at catching Pokémon._ He began to look back and added, _No matter. I can wait for a little while longer. The rest of them shouldn't be a threat._

About twenty minutes later, Josh was once more doing battle. This time, he was up against a dark-type puppy, Poochyena. This time, under the advice of Ryo, Josh started by having Blade leer at the pup. It returned the favor by tackling Blade. It didn't deal much damage and only served to make Blade stagger back a little.

"Now, pound downward!" Josh told Blade. Blade, having learned from the previous battle, did pound Poochyena down into the ground. The resulting impact actually dazed Poochyena pretty hard. Blade and Josh paused for a moment to see the result of this attack.

The backseat drivers behind Josh all yelled, "NOW!"

Josh winced and turned around to face them for a moment. "I was getting to it!" He then threw an empty Poké Ball at the dazed Poochyena. As soon as the ball hit Poochyena, it turned the pup into red light and sucked it inside. Then the waiting game began. The light on the front of the Poké Ball would remain red as long as Poochyena was still struggling to escape.

But, when the struggle ended, the light turned to white and a distinct 'click' was heard. For some reason, maybe it was his inner Ash Ketchum trying to break out, but he grabbed the ball and did a pose which saw him raise the Ball into the air and shout to the world, "I caught a Poochyena!"

For the second time today, the three Digidestined sweatdropped. "You probably shouldn't do that again. Ever." Casey said flatly.

Josh chuckled nervously as the Ball was shrunk and stuck onto his belt, "Sorry about that," he said. "I have no idea where in my brain that shout came from."

"It's about time," a male voice shouted out. "I thought you'd never actually catch a Pokémon. But, now it's about to be mine!" Right near Josh, the man leapt out of the trees and confronted the young man. "Hand it over before I get nasty."

The response from the party was mostly stunned silence. "Why do you need Poochyena, anyway? Can't catch your own?" Josh asked sarcastically.

"That's not the point," he shouted. "Look, kid. I'm a part of Team Aqua. Our mission is to spread water all over the world! We have plans… plans which involve that Pokémon you just caught." Considering their appearance and the quality of attire the Team Magma stooges had worn, if this man represented a competing team, it was amazing they were still a threat: threadbare, two sizes too small shirt, a bandana with badly hand-stitched 'TA' lettering, and looking as if he hadn't seen a drop of water in a long while.

Somehow, the team managed to look even more confused than they had just a few moments before. "I'm confused," said Ryo."What does a plan involving water, and I surmise water Pokémon, have to do with a Dark-type puppy?"

The Team Aqua grunt was growing furious with the constant barrage of questions. "Just hand that Pokémon over before I make you do it!"

At this point, the normal response would be to reach for the Poké Balls and settle this like trainers. However, the fight never actually reached that stage. Before any of them could reach for their Pokémon, Casey stepped into the picture.

"What the—" was all the Aqua grunt got out before Casey stepped forward, reaching over her shoulder and swinging a metal baseball bat. It blew through the air before smashing into the grunts chin with a metallic clang, lifting him up and launching him out of the clearing the same way Blade had done to the Zigzagoon earlier on. The bat disappeared as she stepped through the swing.

Everyone stared at Casey, speechless. She broke the silence herself. "Do I have something on my face? What's wrong?" She asked, with a touch of concern in her voice.

Kyle was the first to speak up, "No, not at all! We just—" He looked to Josh to continue the thought.

Josh looked back at Casey and admitted, "You're probably the last person I expected to just shoot in there and defend me."

"Oh," Casey hung on that tone for a few moments before giving her reason. "I just didn't want all of your hard work to go to waste."

Josh chuckled to himself and then smiled for the first time since they had become a team. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it," Casey said, looking away in slight embarrassment.

Deep inside, Ryo hoped that this simple action would bridge the gap between Josh and the team. Or, at the very least, show him that there was some benefit to being with other people.

They walked back to Petalburg to give Poochyena and Treecko a quick rest before they took off to the west towards Rustboro City.

As they left, the Aqua grunt lay there, dazed and confused. If he had been capable of thought, he would have been regretting the fact that he couldn't even take out a rookie trainer.

Twenty minutes later, they made it to the edge of the city and walked towards the local Pokémon Center. As they kept walking, Kyle looked at Casey and asked jokingly, "Would you have done the same thing, no matter who that idiot was targeting?"

"Of course I would have!" She shouted very quickly. "I told you that I just wanted to make sure he didn't lose his work."

Ryo then offered a pseudo-defense of her actions. "Casey simply wasn't a fan of what he was trying to do. But, instead of doing the typical trainer thing, she took matters into her own hands."

Kyle nodded his head. "That makes sense, I guess."

"Mind you, this isn't a course of action I would recommend following that often," Ryo pointed out. "You had the element of surprise this time and there was only a single opponent. If Josh had faced more than a single rogue, you could have gotten hurt."

"How do you know I would have even done the same thing if there had been more than one?" she asked.

"Because you acted purely on instinct; on impulse," Ryo pointed out. "I know you well enough to see that."

"You say that as if she doesn't do that every single day," Kyle said, sighing in exasperation.

"Shut up!" She shouted back at him.

All the while, Josh remained silent and kept on walking. He was thinking to himself about how he shouldn't have allowed the Aqua grunt to surprise him. He shouldn't have needed to be bailed out by Casey.

Because of the discussion between the others, this went largely unnoticed. Only quick glances in his direction seemed to indicate this introversion.

Ten minutes later, Josh received his Pokémon back from Nurse Joy after she finished restoring their stamina. "Thank you," he said with a small smile.

"You are welcome. Come back anytime!" She said.

Josh turned back to the others. "Are we ready to head west?"

They all nodded their heads. "Not thinking about trying to go it alone?" Casey asked.

"After what happened earlier? No way," Josh said. "It's clear that I still have work to do before I am ready to go on my own."

Ryo just shook his head and sighed. "You really haven't learned anything, have you?"

"What?" Josh asked, sounding annoyed.

"You don't have to do everything alone," Ryo answered. "If you let us, we can work together and be more than we can be alone.

Josh looked away and thought to himself, _If only you knew... that's exactly what I'm afraid of..._

"Is something wrong?" Ryo asked.

Josh looked back at him and shook his head. "No. As I said before, I don't intend to leave the group." _Not yet, at least._

Ryo's expression softened upon hearing that. "That is good enough for me. Let's get going."

As they left, Casey proceeded to stick her foot right into her mouth, another bad habit of hers. "It's a good thing you're hanging around with us for now."

Josh stopped and asked, "And just what is that supposed to mean?"

"All I'm saying is that you'll actually be able to learn something from a real Pokémon trainer, that's all," she said.

Josh growled at her lightly. "I've only been a trainer for three days."

She was a little frightened by the sudden turn from cheerful to angry. Josh had technically been a trainer for longer than that, but she wasn't about to challenge that right now, lest she make things worse.

However, this didn't stop her from making things worse by bringing another into the discussion. "I suppose you and Kyle would be about the same skill level."

This time, it was Kyle who took offense to Casey's remark. "Are you calling both of us horrible trainers?" he asked with some annoyance in his voice.

"Compared to Ryo and I, you're both pretty bad," Casey said offhand.

The only reason why Casey didn't end up with a black eye was because Ryo released Charmeleon from his Poké Ball and they each held one of the young men back.

Casey pulled back, surprised by the sudden outburst. "I didn't say it to offend you."

"You could have phrased it better," Ryo pointed out, struggling to keep Josh in check.

Eventually, after what felt like several hours but was in fact several minutes, the two of them calmed down and were released by Ryo and Charmeleon. "Thanks," Ryo said as he pulled out Charmeleon's Poké Ball.

"Not a problem," he replied before returning inside to rest.

Josh breathed deeply and then told her point blank, "Just because you're a more experienced trainer doesn't mean you'll be better or worse than me after the experience gap is bridged."

Casey got in Josh's face, but Kyle pulled her away from him. "We should just get going right now before we all get into a massive brawl."

They all agreed with that statement and headed out west toward Petalburg Woods.

It was around 10 AM when the team finally hit Route 104. Over the next hour and a half, there was an uneasy peace while they walked along the seaside leading north toward Petalburg Woods. Wisely, most of the attention had been paid to the view of the ocean to the west. This seemed to calm Josh down at the very least. Kyle, on the other hand, was still stewing internally over the comments Casey had made.

Once they got to the north end of the route, they all sat down in a clearing just outside of Petalburg Woods. While Josh and Ryo seemed all right with things, Kyle just stared at Casey intensely. Casey stared back at him. Neither one said a word for minutes. All the while, their Pokémon had been allowed outside of their Poké Balls to run around for a little bit.

"Are you two okay?" Ryo finally asked, breaking the ice.

Kyle snapped, "No! I'm still steaming over Casey's little statement earlier."

"It's the truth," Casey said with little emotion. "You aren't as good as Ryo is. It's plain and simple." Ryo slapped his face with his hand quite audibly.

Instead of yelling again, Kyle had a much better idea. He turned to Toaster and Noble. "Come on, you two. We're going Pokémon hunting." They tilted their heads before running after Kyle as he ran into Petalburg Woods.

Josh looked at Ryo and asked, "Should we go after him?"

"He'll be fine," Ryo said, shaking his head. "He's a big boy."

The comparison was odd, but it still fit. "What if he gets into trouble like I did with that Team Aqua member?" Josh asked back.

Casey shrugged her shoulders. "It's no use trying to stop him. It would be like trying to stop the tide, Joshy boy."

Josh blinked several times. "Joshy boy? What in the—"

"It's my new nickname for you," she answered back with a smile.

Much to Ryo's displeasure, this led to the two of them yelling at each other again. _Remind me to buy some earplugs when we get to Rustboro._

This argument went on for ten long minutes before Ryo finally got in the middle of the two of them. "We should get moving after Kyle. After all, he's gone into Petalburg Woods, which is where we're going anyway."

Upon realizing this as a fact, Casey snorted and folded her arms. "Fine. Let's go get Kyle back."

 _About time you saw some sense. You worry so much about my well-being a couple of hours ago and completely disregard Kyle's._ Josh thought to himself.

Kyle, Toaster and Noble had been wandering the paths of the forest for about forty minutes. In that time, he had managed to wander deep into the woods. And, at least so far, Kyle had come up completely empty. It wasn't because of a lack of trying, however. He just hadn't seen a Pokémon yet which actually appealed to him.

"Come on," Kyle said to himself. "There has to be something nearby which I actually want to catch!" Both Toaster and Noble looked mildly concerned that Kyle had already been driven to talking to himself.

"Wurmple is far too common around here… Slakoth is way too slow… Shroomish has the same problem. There has to be something fast and uncommon that I can catch!" Kyle continued talking to himself.

"Pika?" Noble asked.

Kyle turned back and looked at her. "I'm sorry if I'm worrying you. I just want to find something which will get Casey off my case."

Then, their stomachs started growling of hunger. Kyle stopped and turned back to his Pokémon. "How about we sit down and have something to eat?" Both of them agreed and they sat down on a nearby log.

Kyle pulled out a sandwich he'd prepared earlier that day from his backpack and shared bits of it with Toaster and Noble. But, before he could take a bite of it himself, it disappeared from his hand. In fact, all he ended up taking a bit out of was air. He chewed on it for a moment before he realized that there was absolutely nothing in his mouth. "What in the—? Where did it go?"

He looked around to try and figure out what happened. And, up in a nearby tree, he saw a small bird munching away on his food. Kyle blinked and pulled out his Pokédex. "Dex, what is that?" he asked.

"Taillow, the Tiny Swallow Pokémon. This Pokémon will courageously stand against any foe. It will grow significantly weaker if it is hungry," Dex recited. Kyle nodded and he stood up. He knew right away that this was the Pokémon for him.

"The only thing I have to worry about is their territorial nature, but this shouldn't be a big deal." He turned to Torchic and asked, "Toaster, can you handle this?" She nodded and leapt ahead of Kyle to defend her trainer.

Taillow swooped down to challenge the human and his Pokémon. "Toaster, leap up and use Scratch!" Kyle commanded. She responded up doing a second great leap. This one was onto Taillow's back. She then proceeded to use her talons to scratch up its back pretty badly. This maneuver brought the creature back to ground level.

"Now, give him something to remember. Use Ember attack!" Upon hearing this, Toaster began shooting a stream of small fireballs out of her mouth. At this range, Taillow couldn't dodge any of the fireballs and took great damage. When Toaster leapt off its back, Kyle spied an extra little present left for him by Lady Luck. He could see an orange marking left behind by the Ember attack on one of Taillow's wings. When he tried to take off, he found that wing was too weak to sustain flight.

"Time to finish the job." He pulled an empty Poké Ball out of his pack and yelled, "Poké Ball, go!" as he threw it at Taillow. The ball hit and pulled Taillow inside. And then the struggle began. The ball shuffled back and forth several times. Living up to its reputation of standing against any foe, the struggle lasted longer than it really should have.

But, after about fifty seconds of struggling, the light on the front turned from red to white as the job completed itself. Kyle got very excited and took his turn at doing a completely embarrassing pose, ala Ash Ketchum. "I did it! I caught Taillow! My very first Pokémon in the Hoenn region!"

Toaster tilted her head as if to say, _What am I, then? Chopped liver?_ Noble just sighed at Kyle's pose more than anything.

As Kyle ran to pick up his new Pokémon, he heard voices coming from behind him. "Hey, Kyle!"

He picked up the Ball and turned to see the others running up from behind him. "Look at this!" He said with a wide grin on his face. "I caught myself a Taillow. I didn't need anyone else to catch this little one."

Casey looked at Ryo. He shook his head and said, "You brought this all upon yourself."

She sighed and said, "Look, I could have said what I said better. I wasn't attempting to dig on you and Josh. I was only trying to say that you two need a lot of experience before you can catch up with us."

'If only the filter between your brain and your mouth worked faster...' Josh mumbled to himself. Casey was about to begin yelling at him again, but her train of thought was derailed by a rush of of wings from behind Kyle. Kyle shot around and they all saw a flock of Taillow rising from the trees nearby.

The Taillow all cawed at the party, looking quite angry. Ryo's eyes went wide and he shouted, "Run!" The party didn't hesitate to follow his advice and ran the other way. The Taillow weren't far behind.

Somewhere in Casey's head, she got an image of herself barely hanging onto a… leash? She shook her head and thought to herself, _Why would I be hanging onto a leash? Where in my brain did_ _ **that**_ _image come from?_

The kids ran past a bush a few moments later. From that bush came a couple of Pokémon poachers. "Look at that, boss! Those kids went and did our job for us."

Their leader smirked. "Hmmm, they at least did the job of drawing them out. But, to finish our job, we need to use our technological advantage." He picked up a walkie-talkie and asked into it, "Is the trap ready?"

A voice answered back, "Yes, sir. Just waiting for visual confirmation of the flock, sir."

"Excellent. Now, you will also see a group of trainers being chased by them. You don't need to capture them as well. Our client only wants the flock," he said.

"Understood," the other poacher said before the walkie-talkie turned off.

The leader and his immediate cohorts walked away from the bush and toward a tank-like device.

Further ahead, the party continued running as the Taillow were gaining ground. "Do these creatures ever stop?" Josh asked.

"They're incredibly territorial," Kyle pointed out. "Once they feel like someone's encroached on their territory, they won't stop chasing until they get rid of the threat."

"What?!" Casey shouted back.

The team ran through a clearing with the flock still behind them. It was in this clearing that the poachers decided to spring their trap and complete their job. An invisible laser grid covered the path through the clearing and as soon as the Digidestined crossed it, a forcefield rose, separating the teens from their pursuers. The Taillow didn't have enough time to stop and crashed into the field. The crash caused a loud enough bang that the kids turned around to see what had happened.

The second part of the trap was then sprung by the one poacher the leader had communicated with minutes earlier. A giant vacuum drew the Taillow into an electrified net, trapping them inside. As the birds tried to escape, they were shocked by the netting itself. Given their natural weakness to electricity, it wasn't long before they were subdued.

"Hey, you let them go!" Kyle shouted.

The lead poacher appeared from the trees atop his tank. "You should really be thanking us, kid. They were going to peck you four to death. As it stands, they won't be doing anything like that anymore."

"Just because they were a danger to us doesn't give you the right to snatch them all up!" Ryo fired back.

The leader then asked, "So what exactly do you kids intend to do about it? Do you want to fight me? With my giant tank?"

Josh pointed at the tank. "You brought a tank to a Pokémon fight? That's crap!"

"Naw, kid. I've brought a tank on a hunt," said the boss. "It just happens to be doubly handy at dealing with punks who want to stick their noses in my business and threaten me with Pokémon battles." He laughed as the barrel rotated and stopped, pointed at the teens.

Casey pointed at the barrel of the tank and asked, "Are you seriously going to kill us just to shut us up?"

"Hmmm… would I risk bringing down full wrath of the police and the Ranger Corps on my head by blowing up the entire forest to deal with you lot?" The lead poacher asked, a devious smirk on his face. "Since you asked so kindly, I think you should be the one to find out!" The poacher smacked a button and the cannon fired.

There was a flash and a concussive bang and Josh was suddenly bowled over by a wiggling ball of orange. It wrapped around his body, completely enveloping his limbs and hardened, leaving him flat on his back and unable to move. Fortunately for him, his head and mouth were uncovered.

"Josh!" Ryo shouted.

"I'm okay!" Josh called back.

The lead poacher laughed. "Normally, that's reserved for harder to obtain targets. But, since you asked, I figured I'd give you a demonstration of what will happen to you if you decide to get in our way. Now, scram!"

The Digidestined were never ones to back down from any challenge. Ryo, Kyle and Casey each reached for a Poké Ball on their belts and threw out their Pokémon simultaneously. From within came Charmeleon, Aquaris and Taillow.

The three trainers all looked at one another and nodded, as if they each knew what the others were going to do. The lead poacher chuckled to himself. "Very well. Let's see how you handle this!" He smacked a button and the tank shot out more bags.

The time he had spent telegraphing this gave them time to jump out of the way of these potential restraints. Then, their plan was put into action. "Charmeleon, focus your Flamethrower on the cannon itself!" Ryo shouted.

"On it!" Charmeleon said before charging in. The leader changed the cannon's payload using the remote and began firing out water to try and put Charmeleon out. He was more than up to the task, though. Charmeleon jumped onto the tank and targeted the joint where the barrel met the turret. He turned up the heat, making the metal glow angrily red. He hopped off and went for the treads, aiming to remove its mobility.

While there was some effect from the water inside the barrel hitting the hot steel, it wasn't enough to trigger the effect that they were looking for. So, next up was Casey. "Aquaris, use Water Gun right where Charmeleon hit the cannon!" While Aquaris ran toward the tank, the leader tried again, but unfortunately all he did was spit out more water. He'd forgotten to change out the payload again. The steel hissed and steamed as the water passed by it.

Taillow, meanwhile, was currently pestering the poacher with the electrified net in hand. Being only one-handed, he wasn't exactly in a good position to try and swat away the bird. He pecked the poacher on the forehead multiple times. "Ow, ow, ow!" he shouted. "Get away from me, you pest!"

Kyle hadn't exactly condoned this action, but he also wasn't doing anything actively to stop it.

Charmeleon hopped back up now that the tank treads were damaged. His fire joined Aquaris' water as each took turns applying contrasting temperatures to the steel."Stop it, stop it!" The lead poacher commanded. "Do you know how much I paid to have this thing built?"

"Do you see how much we care?!" Casey asked right back. She then turned to Kyle. "Do it now!"

He nodded and turned to Taillow. "Leave him alone and go hit the cannon!" Taillow only listened after getting one last hard peck in. This one forced some blood to the surface and made the poacher finally let go of the net containing the flock of captured Taillow.

Taillow then charged toward the now brittle cannon, beak first. The resulting impact caused Taillow some damage from flying debris, but it also severed the barrel from the rest of the cannon. This rendered the device largely useless.

Charmeleon and Aquaris leapt back in front of their trainers. The man atop the tank looked incredibly angry. "This was custom work, you hear?! It'll cost hundreds of thousands to have it fixed!"

The mischievous look on Casey's face said it all. "This is what happens when you try and poach, you bunch of poachers!"

Kyle sweatdropped, "Thanks for stating the obvious."

The leader was about to go ballistic, but then he remembered something and calmed down. "Time to get moving!" The second poacher, who had been holding the net, took the advice and fled back to the tank. "Until we meet again," Before he disappeared, he took one opportunity to taunt the curious one. "Count yourself lucky that we don't deal in humans!" With that, the tank fled the forest.

"Come back here!" Casey commanded.

Ryo stuck a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. "Let them go. Charmeleon fixed them good. We did what we needed to do. Now, we need to worry about ourselves."

Kyle was busy freeing the birds from the now inert net. Taillow, with a few wounds, flew near Kyle's head. After a few moments, he got the thing untangled and the birds flew out.

They chose not to resume their attack. Not terribly surprising, given the circumstances. Their leader, or alpha bird, looked at Kyle's newest team member, nodded and tweeted, "Taillow!"

The rest of the flock joined in a hearty "Taillow!" before they all took off for their collective nest.

Kyle smiled and looked at Taillow. "You did really well. We'll get you mended up and get going again." Noble and Toaster also showed their appreciation for his efforts.

Josh, meanwhile, had basically been able to stare at the sky. He had tried breaking out, but that was impossible.

Then, Ryo walked over next to him and bent down. "What would you do if we weren't here? At best, you would have been taken by those poachers and had who-knows-what happen to you. At worst, they just abandon you here and maybe you get rescued by a random passing trainer."

"I get it, okay? You don't need to rub it in," Josh said, sighing.

Ryo then pulled out his knife and observed, "Didn't think I'd get so much use out of this so soon." He began to cut away at the mass. It came apart easily after he broke through the outer layers.

"Seems that trouble always follows us, wherever we go," Charmeleon added.

"No kidding," Kyle said, shaking his head. "Well, tomorrow is another day. Can't be more eventful than today was."

And yet, the day held one more surprise for them. Not long after Josh had been released and everyone recalled their Pokémon, a shout came from the air. "There you are, Ryo Akiyama!" The voice made Ryo freeze immediately.

Everyone looked up to see a gigantic, gray bird descending right on top of them. They scrambled to get out of the way. As it landed, they could see two things. For one, it was an Aerodactyl which had landed. And for the other, Ryo's girlfriend, Caryl, was on top looking incredibly cross. "How dare you try to shoot through without taking me along!"

Ryo had gone from calm and confident to almost a quivering wreck. "H—How did you—?"

"By scanning the ground from above. It was kind of hard to miss the giant tank you were fighting," Caryl said, folding her arms.

Ryo sweatdropped and said, "I'm sorry for leaving without telling you. But, you have to understand why—"

Caryl placed a hand over his mouth. "Just hush. You know as well as I do that it doesn't matter why. You should have said something."

"While you were back home in Wellington?" Ryo asked.

Caryl stammered for a moment before she grunted. "You could have sent me a message. I've always wanted to go on one of these journeys, even if it's only for a few days at a time."

Then Caryl pulled her backpack off and dug into it to find an item which sent a chill through the legendary trainer's spine. It was a blue collar like a dog would wear and a leash to go with it. "You're lucky, you know. If my mood hadn't been improved by watching all of you destroy a tank, you'd be wearing this right now!"

Before Ryo could respond and the situation could escalate further, Kyle jumped in with a question of his own. "Did you want to take part in Pokémon contests?"

Caryl let off the gas and turned to him. "Pokémon contests? What are those?"

"They are these special events held in several cities around the region. Instead of directly fighting against each other, they fight to gain the attention of the judges and the audience," he explained.

Caryl went from angry to happy in the span of about two seconds. "That sounds bloody exciting!" she said.

"Well, I think the first one is in a few weeks at Slateport City," Kyle said, smiling back.

Caryl began to beam. "I'll be on hols then! That's perfect!" Before she went any further, she shouted, "I'm turning into a Kiwi!"

As the others sweatdropped, she then turned to Ryo. "I'll forgive you, this time." Ryo breathed a mental sigh of relief. As she put away the collar and leash, she added, "Just be glad that I found something else to focus my attention on." He was, of course.

The party, after such a long day out, decided to get some rest at the north end of the forest and prepare to head out toward Rustboro tomorrow. They settled in and camped for the night.

As everyone slept in their sleeping bags later that night, the wind blew gently over them. Everyone was sound asleep. But, that wouldn't last for long. Josh's eyes suddenly and unexpectedly shot open. He stared into the sky for a few moments, but eventually sat up. He felt his face and looked at his own hands for some reason. He then began to crawl out of the sleeping bag.

Casey might have been woken up by the noise of her Digivice going off a few nights earlier, but this wasn't enough to set off her radar. Once out of the sleeping bag, Josh walked out of the forest toward the pond just beyond its borders. Critically, he took none of his stuff with him, including the sleeping bag. He looked into his reflection in the pond and turned around to look at his own body. He then dipped his hand into the water and shivered. Even in a region as warm as Hoenn usually was, water was still somewhat cold when not being beat upon by the sun above.

None of these actions made any sense at all. And then, in a moment of even greater confusion, Josh walked over to the nearby building, propped himself against it and then went back to sleep. He didn't even bother to return to the others.

Next Chapter: Petals, flowers and magicians! And a moment that Casey will live to regret for at least several weeks.


	4. Steel Wings and Soft Berries

At the Digidestined camp at the north end of Petalburg Woods, four of the five children were waking up to start a new morning. The fifth member of their team had gone on a nice walk the night before and hadn't returned to his sleeping bag.

Ryo sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. When he looked across the camp and saw the empty sleeping bag, he frowned. "Josh?" he asked no one in particular.

Kyle was the next to waken, yawning and stretching before sitting up. "Another good day ahead," he said, psyching himself up.

"Do you have any idea where Josh might have gone?" Ryo asked while turning to Kyle.

Kyle looked at the empty sleeping bag and noticed a couple of other things scattered around it. Namely, Josh's backpack and several key pieces of clothing, like his belt and his shoes. Kyle turned back and told Ryo, "I wouldn't worry about him suddenly deciding to leave us. Just look over there. He didn't take everything with him when he went… wherever he went."

"I wouldn't even say that he took most of his stuff with him," Casey tossed in, sounding quiet. "He'll be back."

"That's not what I'm worried about," Ryo said. He began to stand up and said, "I'm much more concerned about why he isn't there in the first place."

Caryl yawned and stretched as she woke up. "That was a kapai sleep. It's been some time since I went out camping."

Ryo smiled gently. "Good morning. Glad you slept well."

Getting back to the topic at hand, Casey suggested, "Maybe he just wandered off somewhere."

"Where would he wander off to?" Ryo asked.

Casey shrugged her shoulders. "Beats me."

Kyle then lit a fire to cook some breakfast. The level of immediate concern about Josh fell.

Digicross Advanced Alpha Chapter 4: "Steel Wings and Soft Berries"

After his little adventure the previous night, Josh had fallen asleep against the side of a building about fifteen minutes away from camp. He was woken up by the sun as it began to rise. He yawned and slowly opened his eyes. For a few moments, he was incredibly groggy. However, that feeling would subside when he realized one very important fact. _This isn't my bed._

Josh hurriedly climbed to his feet and looked around trying to figure out where he actually was. _Where am I? How did I get here?_ Off to his immediate left was a lake. Behind him was the building he'd slept on. A sign on the building clearly read: 'Pretty Petal Flower Shop: Come in for Hoenn's best flowers and berries!'

He then shook out any remaining cobwebs he had from waking up. _How far away is camp? I couldn't have wandered that far, could I?_

The next question to enter his mind was far more depressing and far more alarming. _What if they just left without you?_ Josh looked around, wondering where that thought came from. _They don't really care about you or where you go. You wandered out here without them, so who's to say that they won't wander off without you?_

This question had an almost immediate reaction upon Josh's already frazzled state. It caused an intense burst of nervous energy which he now needed to get out of his system. The outlet for that anxiousness this time was to pace back and forth in front of the shop. _What if they really did leave? Would they leave me behind like so much trash? Where could they be?_ Like a record continually playing the same section of a song, these questions looped again and again.

After a few minutes of this pacing, the door to the shop opened. From inside, a young woman appeared and turned to the young man pacing outside. "Can I help you?"

Josh turned quickly toward the woman and said rapidly, "Yes. Have you seen…" He went on to describe the people who had been traveling with him yesterday.

She listened to his descriptions carefully, all the while trying to remember anyone who looked at all like his descriptions. After he finally stopped talking, she shook her head. "No, I can't say I've seen anyone who looks like any of those people."

This response caused Josh to pace faster, almost wearing a path into the grass beneath his feet. She asked, "Do you have any idea where they were headed?"

"Toward Rustboro City. Where is it from here?"

She pointed in a direction away from her shop to the northeast. "It's off in that direction." This new bit of information did nothing to calm Josh down. Instead, she had another suggestion. "How about you come inside and have a bit of tea? I don't think I can send you on in good conscience while you're like that."

Josh's anxious energy was nearing a boiling point and he knew it. "I want to accept the offer, but what if they come by? What if they don't?" Josh said, pacing. This made the young woman worry about him more. Before his energy could reach critical mass, he turned around and said, "I think I will accept your offer." She seemed relieved as she brought Josh inside.

Back at camp, everyone was eating Kyle's breakfast offerings and they were pretty good. As they ate, thoughts turned back to the one person who wasn't sitting here, enjoying it. "You don't think those poachers came back, do you?" Casey suggested.

"I'd like to think that we could hear a giant tank or, at worst, one of those bags being set off," Kyle answered before taking another bite.

"I can't imagine him roaming off on his own. Not after what happened yesterday," Ryo mentioned.

"Maybe he thinks trouble just follows him everywhere he goes," Casey observed.

Kyle looked over and asked, "Do you really believe that to be true?"

"Of course not!" she argued. "Look at what happened to us back in Oldale! And you couldn't possibly argue that he had anything to do with it!"

"That's true," Ryo nodded. "I don't think you could attribute anything that happened yesterday to him."

Caryl, who had been remarkably silent, chose now to throw in her own cockamamie theory. "What if he was sleepwalking?"

"I would have thought Gail would know that already," Ryo rebuffed.

"So?" she asked back. "Even if she did, she had no reason to tell anyone else about it."

Ryo was about to open his mouth again, but he realized that was a valid point. "Where do you think he is?"

Before Caryl could answer, Kyle stepped in. "Probably north of the forest. Think about it; out there, he would have no sense of direction or sense of how far he would have wandered off."

"... What that bloke said," Caryl said, confirming this. She then caught herself and shouted, "I'm turning into a Kiwi!"

Everyone groaned. Kyle turned to Ryo, "Is this going to happen every time?"

"I'm afraid so..." Ryo responded before breathing out an exasperated sigh.

At the Flower Shop, Josh sat at a small table. Surrounding him were numerous flowers and various pouches containing a variety of berries from around the region. The young woman who had talked with him before served him some tea. "It's Cheri Berry Tea. It helps to relieve tension."

Josh's jitters had gotten a little worse. It was almost to the point of shaking the table. "T-T-Thank you," he answered. He took a nervous sip and then put the cup down again. A minimal amount spilled onto his jeans from all the nervous shaking, causing him to yelp lightly. 

After making sure he was okay, the young woman asked, "Do you know your name?" She feared that he might be suffering from some form of amnesia.

He nodded quickly and said, "M-My name is Josh, ma'am."

"Please don't call me ma'am," she suggested, giving him a gentle smile. "Just call me Marianne. I run the Pretty Petal Flower Shop."

"Thanks again M-Marianne," Josh said before he took another sip of the tea.

"So… you don't know where you are… you don't know how you got here… and you don't know where the people you were traveling with yesterday got to. Am I understanding all of that correctly?" she asked.

"Yeah… I started off, I thought… in Petalburg Woods," he said, still shivering as he put the cup down.

"Well, that's not too far from here. The north entrance is about 15 minutes away from here," Marianne responded.

"Really?" Josh sounded very surprised. "We're that close to the forest?"

"Yeah."

"Good… I'll have to head back in that direction and hope my stuff hasn't gotten stolen…" He sounded slightly more clear-headed now.

Marianne then saw one opportunity ahead of her. "Hey, do you think you could do me a favor?"

Josh took a nervous sip of his tea, his twitching growing a bit calmer. "What?"

Marianne saw that he was still shaken and shook her head. "Finish your tea first and then we'll talk." Josh agreed to this and used this time to try and calm his frayed nerves down.

About twenty minutes later, the rest of the Digidestined team had emerged from the Woods. They had cleaned up breakfast and gathered all of Josh's things. Ryo had the 'honor' of lugging two packs around, as they couldn't just leave that stuff where they camped out.

Soon after emerging, they came to a fork in the road at the edge of a lake. In front of them was a sign pointing in both directions. "1 km west: Pretty Petal Flower Shop; 2 km east: Bridge to Rustboro City"

"Ooh! A flower shop! Let's head in that direction!" Caryl suggested.

"You just want to go that way because you want a bouquet of flowers," Ryo accused.

Caryl did nothing to deny this claim. Her only answer was, "So?"

The team stood there while Ryo and Caryl stared at each other for a few seconds. Eventually, Kyle broke up the silence and gave a better reason to head in that direction first. "The sign said nothing about a path to Rustboro City in that direction. So, if he did go that way, we'd never find him taking the main path."

Not surprisingly, Caryl latched onto that logic in a heartbeat. "What he said!"

Casey decided to poke a little fun at Kyle as they began walking toward the Flower Shop. "You and Caryl really are thinking alike today, aren't you?"

"More like she's agreeing with everything I'm saying," Kyle corrected.

Ten minutes later, at the Flower Shop, Josh's shaking had finally ceased. He had drank three cups of the tea before he finally calmed all the way down. One could argue that the knowledge of his position also calmed his mind.

Marianne made a suggestion at this point. "Maybe you should take some extra bags with you… in case this happens again."

"That sounds like a very good idea," Josh said with a smile. "When I come back later to ask about what favor you want me to do for you, I can buy some from you then."

Marianne brightened and asked, "Would you like for me to tell you what I would ask of you to do? It'll only take a couple of minutes and then you can go searching all you want."

Josh blinked and then nodded. "Sure, what's up?"

"Well, my crops keep on disappearing, night after night…" she began.

She was about to go further, but she was interrupted by a voice from outside. "Are you telling that story again?" Both turned to see a young man standing there. He was much younger than both of them. "You're just being paranoid, Marianne."

"Oh stop, Rick," she said, scoffing. "They are disappearing and I would like to find out why they are before I lose enough of my crops to start threatening my business."

Josh blinked and asked, "Do you two know each other?"

"He hangs outside my shop most days," Marianne said. "So, we have gotten to know each other fairly well."

Rick stepped inside and smiled in Josh's direction. "It's good to meet you. I might not look like it, but I'm actually an accomplished Move Tutor."

"Aren't you a little… young?" Josh asked, tilting his head.

"That's what everyone says," Rick said with a smirk. "And then they learn one of my moves. They're perfect for people taking on the League Challenge in nearby Rustboro City."

Josh's face looked a little bit more excited. "You can do that?"

He nodded his head and then had a hard look at Josh. "You're a… Treecko trainer, right?"

"How could you know that?" Josh asked, looking confused.

"You have the look of a trainer who would train an excellent Treecko," Rick said confidently.

 _You don't want to admit that you just guessed…_ Marianne thought to herself.

As Josh came around the counter toward the front of the store, Rick reached into his pocket and pulled out a CD. "Take this. It's a Technical Machine for a move called Bullet Seed. Treecko should be able to make good use of it when you go up against Roxanne."

"Thank you, Rick," Josh said calmly as he took the machine and pocketed it; he'd have to use it on Blade later on. He then turned his attention back to Marianne. "So, as you were saying before?"

"Ah, right. I always seem to start the day with fewer berries than when I end it. I think someone's stealing my berries," she said. Her voice sounded more distraught toward the end.

"And I say that there really isn't that much interest in stealing berries in the first place," Rick added. "Why would someone want to steal something they could simply find in nature around here?"

"You simply don't realize just how valuable Berries can be for anyone calling themselves a Pokémon Trainer," Marianne retorted. "Not only can they be used in combat, they can be used as ingredients in a wide variety of foods and they can even be used to enhance a Pokémon's inner beauty or cuteness!"

This argument was the first thing that the rest of the Digidestined team heard as they approached the Flower Shop. "Sounds like you and I sometimes," Casey noted, looking toward Kyle.

 _More like you and anyone you meet…_ Kyle thought to himself.

They decided to approach with caution, lest they get swept up in the argument themselves.

"You're far too obsessed with these Berries, Marianne. I understand that they are your business and everything, but… dang it! This obsession is costing you sleep and causing your work to suffer during the day," Rick shouted back.

"People all over Hoenn are counting on me. And while I have a cache which I can draw from during emergencies, I'm running out fast. If I don't do something now, those supplies are going to dry up," she argued back.

Josh watched the two of them go back and forth on the topic for a couple of minutes. Slowly, the volume kept rising as the conversation continued. Eventually, Josh decided to throw his two cents into the mix. "It doesn't matter to me if it is a fool's errand," he started at a tone louder than the bickersons, "I'm going to stay here tonight and help her. She helped me, so it's my turn to do the same."

Marianne patted Josh on the back from behind the counter, "Thank you so much!"

Rick put his hands up in defense and said, "Hey, man. If you want to help her, I won't try to stop you. Just try not to get obsessed like she has."

"I'm only staying one night. I don't think I will have time to get obsessed," Josh observed. "For now, I really do have to get going. I need to see if I can find my stuff or, better still, the people I was traveling with."

For the second time in the very short time he had been in Hoenn, his train of thought was interrupted by the arrival of other Digidestined. "That won't be necessary," a voice came from behind Josh and Rick.

Josh whipped around and saw a sight that would have meant little just hours before: the rest of his traveling party. His face beamed at the sight. "Hi, guys!"

"What did you go and sign us up for?" Casey asked, sounding exasperated.

"I didn't sign you up for anything," Josh clarified. "I signed myself up for something."

"If we're going to stay together as a party, then we're sticking around to help," Ryo interjected.

"All right," Josh said with a small smile. "We're starting here tonight. This young lady has a problem with someone making off with her berries, and I volunteered to try and do something about it."

"We can talk about all of that later, but first..." Ryo took off and dropped Josh's backpack on the ground. "Take your stuff back, please..."

Josh sweatdropped and picked up his pack with a sheepish grin on his face. "Thanks."

Caryl, meanwhile, was looking around the store, amazed by the sheer selection of flowers on offer. "You must have flowers from all over Hoenn in here," she remarked.

"I try," Marianne said with a smile.

Once she said this, Ryo walked in and looked around himself. Seeing how excited she had been, he knew that he would be buying her some flowers before they left.

"You know, Caryl is not the only one who likes flowers..." Casey said in Kyle's general direction.

Kyle stared at her for a minute. "Yeah, right..."

"... What is that supposed to mean?!" She argued back.

It was at this moment that Josh was pleased about one thing. _Thank goodness that I missed out on having a girlfriend..._ He then chose to head to the restroom to put on what gear he needed to from his pack.

As Josh came back out, Rick walked up to him and asked, "Do you want to come outside and test out your new move?"

Josh nodded in response and walked into the nearby field. Kyle, curious about this, followed behind.

Ten minutes later, Josh had consumed his TM, using it on Blade to teach him Bullet Seed. Kyle walked up to the two of them and asked, "Do you teach all kinds of moves?"

Rick turned around and said, "While Bullet Seed is my only TM, I do teach other moves. Concerned about the Gym Leader?"

"According to the guidebook, Roxanne is a Rock-type Gym Leader," Kyle noted.

Rick nodded. "That is quite true. For Josh, he shouldn't have issues, especially since his Treecko now knows Bullet Seed. Do you have a Mudkip?"

"No, that would be the loudmouth, Casey," he said, grumbling toward the end.

"Then you have Torchic," Rick concluded. "That's a tough act. But, if you have other Pokémon, I might be able to help them overcome that particular shortcoming."

"I have Noble, a Pikachu..."

"Perhaps they would like to learn Iron Tail," the tutor answered.

Kyle thought about it briefly before shaking his head. "Nah... I would rather use Noble when she has the greatest possible advantage."

Rick nodded. "Understandable. Anyone else?"

"Well, I do have a Taillow..."

"Perfect. I could teach it Steel Wing. It might be a bit more of a double-edged sword, but it could surprise the Gym Leader." Rick said, smirking as he presented the scenario to Kyle

He liked what he heard. "Perfect. Let's do it."

Josh walked into the orchard to get a lay of the land. Blade walked in front of him, looking for a perfect place to test out his new Bullet Seed.

Unbeknownst to both of them, one of the poachers from yesterday was laying in wait in one of the bushes. _That's the kid the boss bagged up. Not that it really matters. He's not what I'm after here. I just have to wait a little while longer._

"Blade, let's try a little target practice before we head in for the night," Josh said.

"Treecko!" Blade said in agreement.

Josh scanned the bushes along the west side of the orchard. After doing so for a few moments, he pointed at one bush. "Blade, hit that one with Bullet Seed!"

Blade crouched down and then fired several salvos of seeds directly into the bush. Oddly enough, the bush Josh had chosen randomly contained the poacher. And Blade's attack caused it to explode, sending the poacher flying into the air.

Josh blinked and watched as the poacher went into the air. "Holy crap, Blade... " As he stared, he asked, "Wasn't that one of those poachers?"

Up in the air, the poacher was covered in soot and flying upward. "Boss, I'm afraid I won't be able to capture our target."

"What happened?"

"Let's say… now I know how those three morons from Kanto feel when they go blasting off." The poacher flew onward, drawing out of sight quickly.

Back on the ground, Josh turned his attention to his Pokémon. "You really don't know your own strength, do you?"

Last time, Blade looked slightly embarrassed by the show of strength. That didn't happen this time. Instead, he looked prideful. "Treecko!"

Back out on the plain, Taillow took to the skies. Kyle was below and watching. Rick had released his own bird, a Wingull. For the last twenty minutes, Rick had been instructing Taillow on how to charge his wings with energy to turn them temporarily to Steel. Wingull had been the one to demonstrate the technique throughout this process.

Taillow was getting close. He was able to charge up his wings just fine, but couldn't quite hold it through the dive into an enemy. "Take it one step at a time!" Kyle shouted up to Taillow.

"Make sure you've got your form completely set before you even attempt to attack," Rick advised.

It took a few more attempts for Taillow to learn exactly how long he needed to charge before dive bombing to hit the training dummy made of rock. The first time it hit successfully, a slice was made into the stone.

"Nice job!" Rick praised. "Now, see if you can't make the process faster!"

By now, Josh had returned from the orchard with Blade and both watched the training process continue. Taillow practiced over and over again. Each time, he became a little bit faster. Rick stressed, "Every second counts! Especially when you're up against Pokémon you would be weak to!"

Josh turned to Kyle and asked, "So, the training is going well?"

He nodded and smiled. "Yeah. Taillow is catching on rather quick."

"All he needs to do now is learn how to compress the process of using Steel Wing. He won't be able to take ten seconds charging up when an opponent is preparing to throw rocks at him," Rick said.

That point couldn't really be argued, so the training went on. What Taillow would need to learn is how to charge and dodge at the same time. To help with that, Rick commanded Wingull to start trying to blast Taillow out of the sky with Water Gun.

Any time Taillow stopped to charge up, he would end up getting wet. So, he had to learn how to dodge and charge at the same time. This lesson would end up taking several hours more. Kyle would need to borrow some Potions to finish the job. But, it would pay off when Taillow learned how to use Steel Wing without needing to stop in mid-air.

"Excellent work!" Kyle said, praising his newest team member.

"Taillow!" he crowed back.

Kyle had wondered how he would fit into the team, and it appeared that he now had his answer.

After a small celebration and some Pokémon treats for both Blade and Taillow, the two of them went back inside after saying good-bye to Rick for now.

Casey and Caryl had been busy perusing the wares of the shop for hours now. Between the aromatherapy pods, the flower arrangements and the candies, the Flower Shop certainly knew how to maximize the uses for the berries it utilized.

Ryo, meanwhile, was still looking for that perfect bouquet to give to Caryl. It simultaneously annoyed her and pleased her that he was taking this decision so seriously. It annoyed her because he was taking forever to do anything. It pleased her because it showed her how much thought he was putting into something like this.

When the two boys reentered the shop, Casey turned toward them. "So, how did it go?"

"We're both ready for Rustboro Gym," Josh said confidently.

"I certainly hope so," Casey replied. "But before that, we have to deal with whatever it is that's stealing this shop's berries."

"Agreed," Josh said.

Even as the sun set and Josh prepared himself for a stakeout, Ryo still hadn't made any real decision about what sort of flowers to give Caryl.

What Josh didn't quite anticipate was that he would be joined in his stakeout by Kyle and Ryo. "You know… you didn't have to come out here. You could have been sleeping like Casey and Caryl are," Josh pointed out.

"You're right," Ryo said. "We didn't have to do this. But, we wanted to help out any way we could."

Kyle then tossed in an extra helpful tidbit. "I should be able to hear when something approaches sooner than any of you can."

"Well, I appreciate it, guys." Josh said before looking back out toward the orchard.

While they waited for… whatever it was to appear, Ryo had one good question for his wayward companion. "What exactly happened last night? Why did you leave?"

"I have no clue," he replied. "I went to sleep in Petalburg Woods and woke up sitting alongside that building."

"So, you're a sleepwalker?" Kyle asked.

Josh shrugged his shoulders. "I guess."

Ryo immediately followed up with, "What do you mean 'I guess'?"

"It's actually the first time I've ever done that," Josh confessed.

This caught both of them off-guard. "Wait, what? You mean that you haven't been doing this all your life?" Ryo inquired.

"No," Josh responded. "Last night was the first time that I can remember going to sleep one place and waking up in another. That's why I panicked like I did. I honestly thought that you might just leave me behind."

Ryo stared at him for a few moments. _First the wireless communications not working. Now this? What in the world is going on?_

He wouldn't get time to ponder this further. Kyle poked both of them and said quietly, "I hear something. Get ready." Both of them nodded and reached for their Poké Balls. They would be ready at a moment's notice to act.

What they saw come out of the bush twenty seconds later was not quite what they were expecting: two Pokémon. One was a Ralts, like the kind Josh had assisted Wally in obtaining earlier in his journey. _No way, it couldn't possibly be…_ His first depressing thought was. That thought had to be quickly put out of mind.

The other was a Pokémon who looked incredibly out of place around here. It was a small walking cactus-like Pokémon. Josh pulled out his Pokédex almost instinctually. "Cacnea, the cactus Pokémon. The more arid and harsh the environment, the more pretty and fragrant a flower it grows. This Pokémon battles by wildly swinging its thick, spiked arms."

"What is a Pokémon like this doing wandering around here?" Kyle whispered.

Ryo noticed one other oddity about the situation. "Why is that Pokémon leading Ralts around?"

Cacnea looked up into one of the trees in the orchard and fired off a number of Pin Missiles. From above, several berries dropped down. Both Ralts and Cacnea took a couple of berries to eat.

 _That certainly solves the mystery of where the missing berries have gone._ Josh thought to himself.

All three of them reached for a Poké Ball. From the bushes, they popped out and threw out Poochyena, Charmeleon and Taillow.

Cacnea was spooked by the sudden appearance of three Pokémon trainers. He reacted very violently to them and began firing off thorns in their direction.

His aim wasn't the best, though. While he did hit the Pokémon and the humans occasionally, most flew into air. One in particular shattered the window facing the orchard on the building. A light went on moments later.

"Poochyena, don't let them get away!" Josh commanded as he pulled a thorn out of his arm.

The small puppy circled around to the back of these two Pokémon. Ralts ran toward the building. Kyle was about to send Taillow after it, but he was distracted by another barrage of spikes from Cacnea. "Hit it now with Tackle!" He yelled.

Taillow shot forward, dodging a few more thorns on the way in. He hit Cacnea, forcing it to roll backwards.

"Poochyena, follow up with another Tackle!" Josh turned to Ryo and looked at him. Ryo looked at him and nodded.

"Charmeleon, move into position!"

"Right!" He moved to where he thought Poochyena would send Cacnea. Thanks to their experience, he got right in line for where he needed to be.

Poochyena sent Cacnea rolling just as he took a thorn to the knee. Josh had to restrain himself from going and trying to heal him right now.

"Take after Casey and batter up!" Ryo said. Charmeleon reared his tail back and then let loose, spinning several times. Cacnea couldn't stop itself from rolling before it hit the tail. It went flying right out of the proverbial park.

Charmeleon kept spinning for several moments before finally stopping. He was also quite dizzy, eyes spinning. "Great home run!" Ryo praised.

"Urgh..." the lizard grumbled. "Praise me after the world stops spinning..." He fell over on the ground.

Josh pulled some thorns out of Poochyena. "You okay, buddy?" He barked in response.

Then, an ear-shattering shriek broke the silence which followed the end of combat. Ryo shot to his feet. "Caryl!" He knew right away who had shrieked and ran inside, leaving Charmeleon to recover.

When he got to the room where they all were sleeping, he found Caryl and Casey both awake and a Poké Ball sitting on the floor. "What happened here?"

Caryl hugged Ryo and told him, "This bloke was climbing all over me... and I just threw the nearest thing I had at it..."

Ryo looked at the Poké Ball and asked, "Was it a Pokémon?"

"I guess," Caryl replied, still shaking.

 _Did that Ralts come in here?_ Ryo wondered. Josh could have told him that Ralts are naturally attracted by those with positive attitudes.

After spending the next half-hour calming everyone down and healing their wounds, they all went to sleep.

Cinnabar Island was the place both Josh and Ryo called home. Of course, they didn't live there alone. Josh had his family there and Ryo had his own closest relative living there as well: his aunt, Prima.

That name was an alias she used when not competing in the Indigo Champion's League. She was Lorelei of the Elite Four. But, that fact didn't stop Ryo from calling her Aunt Prima.

Today, Prima received a piece of mail postmarked from Petalburg City. She recognized Ryo's handwriting right away. "I didn't expect him to send something so soon."

She pulled the letter out of its envelope and began to read it. ' _Dear Aunt Prima, I hope this letter finds you well. I already have some news to report to you._

 _First of all, the theory that Izzy presented before I left for Hoenn turns out to hold some water. When the ferry was a couple hours away from Hoenn, the Digivice I carry shut down and has not turned back on since. Because of this, I fear that his other theory has more than passing merit. If a pure digital being came here, it is likely they would fade away within mere hours. Fortunately, as expected, Charmeleon gets on just fine around here. Since he was born here, he's used to being cut off from Digital Energy._

 _While I have not found the cause yet, I have found what I believe to be an indirect result of this lack of contact with the Digital plane. All communication here in Hoenn, whether it be television, Internet or video phone, is all done by cable. They don't do anything via wireless communication. Whether this is a true cause and effect is something I will need to research further._

 _I won't have to do it alone. Just a few hours into my trip here, I met Kyle Evanick and Casey again. They both came to start new Pokémon journeys here. Don't worry; neither one of them had their Digimon with them. The same can also be said for someone else I was surprised to find here in Hoenn: Josh._

 _He hasn't really told anyone why he came to Hoenn, but suffice it to say that I'll be traveling with him, as well as with Kyle and Casey. Please make sure to let Gail know that I am with her son. I know that she would want to know about that._

 _When I find out more information, I will let you know about it. Although, the only way I can really send communication is via these letters due to the whole lack of communication across the sea thing. In the meantime, stay well. Love, Ryo._ '

Prima read it over a couple of times before she got on the phone. "Hello, Samuel?"

"Ah, Prima. What can I do for you this morning?"

"I received a letter from Ryo, and I know that a certain part-time assistant of yours will be very interested in reading it."

"He's already found some information that he can use?"

"It's not much, but it's at least preliminary information that Izzy might be able to use to form further hypotheses."

"All right. Bring it here as soon as you can and I'll pass it onto to him as soon as possible."

"Thank you. I'll be by later, as I need to go speak with Gail first."

She hung up and walked over to Josh's house to speak with Gail.

Around 11 am, the Digidestined finally began to wake up inside the Pretty Petal Flower Shop. The previous night's events were odd, to say the least. Caryl had managed to catch a Ralts without even trying because he ran toward her after Cacnea went ballistic. Cacnea was sent flying far away, and the Berry problem had finally been solved.

In gratitude for this service, Marianne gifted Josh with three things. For one, a box of tea bags to use in the future, should the panic strike again one day. For another, he received a pouch full of common but useful berries. Finally, he received a bouquet of flowers. "You really didn't have to do all of this…"

"Of course I did!" Marianne said with a smile. "You saved my business from that ravenous Cacnea and that horrible Ralts."

"Ralts isn't horrible," Caryl defended. "He was scared and alone."

Josh turned to Ryo and asked, "Would you kindly take these flowers?"

Ryo looked surprised for a brief moment, but he got the idea soon after. He took the bouquet from Josh and then gave them to their real recipient: Caryl. She buried her head in the bouquet and then grinned. "This is kapai! Thanks a lot!" Her sense of gratitude overwhelmed any sense of shame over the use of another piece of Kiwi slang.

"Take care of yourselves, you hear?" Marianne said as she began to wave. The Digidestined waved back and left the store behind. Caryl kept her head close to the flowers so that she could enjoy the smell for as long as possible.

Outside, they had one more person to see, Rick. He looked surprised after hearing from Marianne about how her problems had been solved. "I'm… sorry for the way I acted in there yesterday. I thought all of Marianne's problems were in her head. I-I should have known better."

"You more than made up for that when you helped Josh and I," Kyle remarked. "You did what you do best, and that's bringing out the best in trainers."

Rick blushed and laughed sheepishly. "Thanks."

"Take care!" Kyle shouted as they walked onward toward Rustboro City.

While the events at the Pretty Petal Flower Shop might have come to an end, that wasn't to say that the day was out of surprises. No surprises occurred during their four-hour-long trip to the big city. The team talked with one another, Casey started the occasional argument with the others and in general life was normal.

But, just outside the city was a poster. On it was a picture of a flamboyantly dressed person with some playing cards around them as well as the following text, "Come see the incredible Harry David Angel! For one night only, tonight in the Rustboro Theater!"

"That's interesting," Kyle said. "You wouldn't think there would be much demand for human magicians in this world, what with all the amazing stuff Pokémon can do."

"You'd be surprised," Ryo replied. "Because they do tend to be rarer sights, they tend to attract more people."

"They're usually quite lame back home," Josh observed. "I can't claim to know anything about what they would be like on this world."

"Should we go see the show tonight?" Ryo inquired. "It's almost 4 PM already, so it might be too late to take on the Gym today."

"Why not?" Kyle asked. "What's the worst that could possibly happen?"

Josh replied, "The magician could cut Casey in half and then forget to put her back together."

"Not. Funny." Casey glared lightly at Josh.

After checking in at the Pokémon Center and grabbing a bite to eat, the Digidestined made their way to the theater to watch the show. Tickets were relatively expensive, at 1,000 Pokémon Dollars a pop.

For Josh, Kyle and Caryl, none of this was anything they wouldn't have seen on television back home. The stage was lit up by numerous bright lights which had some choreography depending on the trick.

Most of the typical tricks in the magician's arsenal was here. Transforming Pokémon into other Pokémon, making things disappear, the aforementioned sawing someone in half and escape tricks. Some of these were impressive to watch, especially the one where the performer teleported an item into the audience with the assistance of a single Pokémon.

About an hour into the show, Harry sought two volunteers from the audience for his next trick. And while there were many who wanted to volunteer, a particular sight caught his eye. Casey hadn't watched many of his tricks before now. Based entirely on the comment made outside, she had spent the majority of the show glaring at Josh. Josh, being Josh, ignored her and watched the show in peace, except those times when he winced due to her kicking him under the table.

In his mind, these two were perfect for this next trick. "I'd like to call to the stage the purple-haired girl and the boy she has been staring at the entire show."

Casey was immediately shaken from her mood due to the surprise. "Me?" She asked, her voice expressing that surprise.

"Yes," he said. "You and the boy." Josh looked at Casey before both got up and went on stage. The audience applauded as they walked up.

Once they got on stage, Harry instructed, "Stand next to each other." After some shuffling due to not being anywhere close to on the same page, they eventually settled with Josh standing on Casey's right side.

Harry presented a cloth, as he had done through most of the show. "Watch carefully. I'm about to bring these two together."

 _Good luck with that,_ Ryo and Kyle thought simultaneously. However, the magician had a different idea of 'together'. The cloth passed over the hands closest to each other.

Casey yelped as she suddenly felt something clamp onto her right wrist. Josh's head shot to the cloth. When the cloth was pulled away, they were both mystified as their wrists had been locked inside what looked like a bracelet. Neither one was connected to the other, creating even more confusion.

"Behold!" Harry said, "Even these two can be brought together by something like this!" The audience, seeing the same thing that Josh and Casey saw, didn't laugh at the joke. It made no sense right now.

Casey did not find a single thing about this funny. "What kind of trick is this?!" She shouted, causing Josh to wince. "You lock these bracelets around our wrists for what reason, exactly?"

Still oblivious to the situation, Harry said, "Come now, isn't it obvious?"

Now officially sick of the trick, Casey began to walk in Harry's general direction. "You take-"

Her train of thought went no further as the bracelets suddenly came to life. Between them, a 'chain' of pure energy emerged and Casey was thrown backwards toward the stationary Josh. She slid into Josh's leg after she fell on stage. Worse than this was the fact that both of them were shocked as if they had been hit by Noble. Their hair frizzed up and they had a bit of soot on their faces.

Once the sound of the shock hit Harry's ears, he turned to see what he had wrought. In a few short moments, the once positive veneer was replaced by one of great anxiousness. "Uh, wait a second here."

The audience, now positively entranced by the newly created spectacle, oohed and ahhed. Everything the performer had done up until now had been eclipsed in an instant by these 'magic cuffs'.

"Dang it!" Casey yelled. "I'm not just going to stand here and take this abuse!" She then pointed out into the audience with her free hand at Kyle. "This is all **your** fault."

Then, she did something no one was expecting, least of all Josh. "Come on, you!" She then began marching out of the theater. Josh was largely being dragged out of there, protesting that she should stop.

The theater sat in stunned silence from the outburst. Ryo, Kyle and Caryl soon got up and went after them. As they left, Harry made one remark, "Guess they wanted to stay together so bad that they didn't even let me finish the trick!" The audience laughed.

Outside, Casey was looking at her bracelet from all angles she could manage. "Is there even a keyhole?"

Josh groaned and facepalmed with his free hand. "I'm sure there was a trick to getting out of these... a trick he would have performed if you hadn't marched off the stage!"

"Shut up!" She shot back. "He just wanted to 'bring us together'. We have no guarantee that he would have released us!"

"Except for the fact that it's... you know, a show!"

"Just pull!" Josh and Casey pulled against the laser chain binding them. Beyond the five inches they were able to get from one another, the chain had no additional give.

"This is all your fault!" Casey yelled as they continued pulling.

"How is this possibly my fault?! You're the one who kept giving me a death glare and caught his attention!" Josh argued.

"If you hadn't made that comment, I wouldn't have glared at you!"

"Yeah, right..." Josh rolled his eyes and they kept pulling.

Ryo, Kyle and Caryl watched as their methodology changed from using brute force to having their Pokémon use brute force on the beam. To the surprise of no one, none of this actually worked.

Casey growled. "Looks like we're not getting this off tonight."

"And whose fault is that?" Kyle chided. "It's as Josh said. If you hadn't marched off the stage, I'm sure he would have let you two go. Now, you have a piece of his equipment. We don't really have the money to waste on another set of tickets to go back in and he leaves town tonight."

"I could always just withdraw money from the bank and we could go back in," Ryo pointed out.

Josh shook his head. "I'd rather you didn't break the bank on account of her stupidity."

As much as Casey would have loved to smack Josh for that comment, she knew now who to blame for this happening to her. She rounded on Kyle and claimed, "This is your fault. You're the one who insisted that we had to go to a show tonight."

This sparked another argument between Kyle and Casey. Ryo groaned and shook his head. Caryl had an entirely different reaction. _Maybe I should see if I can find something like that for Ryo and I._

After another minute, Ryo got forceful with both of them, getting in between them and pushing them apart. "This isn't helping anything. Let's go to the Pokémon Center, get some rest, and try again tomorrow."

"Fine by me," Josh said. "The fewer waking hours I have to be in this position, the better."

"I guess we can agree on one thing!" Casey shouted.

As they walked back to the Pokémon Center, Kyle did manage to find a silver lining in this. "Look at the bright side, Josh— no more sleepwalking."

Josh thought about it and chuckled. "I guess that's true. It would be kind of hard to sleepwalk with someone attached to my arm."

Casey didn't say anything to this. She couldn't say anything. She was only imagining waking up one night being dragged along the ground. Never mind the fact that she wasn't a heavy enough sleeper for this to ever occur.

"No more waking up in strange places, which is a definite plus," Josh concluded.

After arriving at the Pokémon Center, they checked into the back room and a new 'discussion' ensued, mostly about how much Casey and Josh wanted to be apart from one another. Though they both agreed on not wanting to be bound together, they argued over who wanted away from the other more.

About forty minutes after they arrived and in the midst of this argument, the Digidestined got an unexpected guest; Harry David Angel. He still wore the same flamboyant garb he wore on stage, but his facade no longer matched. "I'm so sorry about this," he said, bowing his head. "I must have grabbed the wrong ones backstage; they look so much alike."

"Then get us out!" Casey demanded.

"I'm afraid it won't be that simple," he explained. "Those are far from ordinary cuffs you're wearing right now. I picked them up sometime ago as a novelty. I had no idea they worked, though."

Josh groaned and facepalmed. "What are these cuffs, then?"

"According to the documentation which came with them, they're called the Cursed Cuffs of the Estranged Lovers."

 _That sounds like the worst episode of Legends of the Hidden Temple ever…_ Kyle thought to himself.

The word 'cursed' filled Casey with dread. "We're not going to die, are we?" she asked, her voice betraying the fright in her heart.

"No, no," Harry quickly assured them both. "It's not that kind of curse." Casey breathed an audible sigh of relief.

"It's the kind where you end up wearing an item and can never take it off again, right?" Kyle asked. His mind had wandered to an anime he'd seen where a character had been cursed to wear a necklace, hence the question.

"Precisely," Harry said. "I received a book with the cuffs. it had this long-winded story about how it was created 1,000 years ago by some mystic shaman to resolve the differences between two lovers by force. My guess is that it was an arranged marriage and-"

"We don't really care about that," Josh interrupted. "Can we get out of these things now?"

"In short? No." Both Josh and Casey groaned.

"What are they going to have to do to get out?" Ryo asked.

"The first thing they will have to do is stop arguing with each other. So long as they do that, they won't be getting any further away from one another," Harry explained.

"These things can tell?" Caryl asked, looking at the devices.

"Yes. They apparently can detect heightened emotions, both from arguments and from other kinds of battle. It will react and snap them back to this length. It will also sense when the 'lovers' would rather split up and force them to remain together."

Kyle and Caryl couldn't help but snicker at that term being used to describe those two. "The beam will eventually disappear. Wander too far away from one another, and you're in for a painful shock. As you stop arguing, you'll find that you will have some distance you can put between each other."

By now, Casey and Josh were each looking at the floor, about to have a Psyduck-level headache. "What do we need to do to get free?" Casey asked, sounding like she was about to strangle Harry for putting her in this mess.

Sensing this hostility, Harry wisely kept his distance from the two trainers as he dropped a bombshell on them both. "You will need to find peace with one another and not bicker for at least seven consecutive days before you will even be eligible for release."

Ryo and Kyle thought the same thing. _They'll be stuck together for life…_

"Hopefully, we'll meet again when you have done so. My show must go on, and I'm due in Fallarbor in three days time." Harry got up and began to walk out. "Take care of yourselves... and try not to kill each other."

The only thing which kept Casey from going after Harry and beaning him upside the head was the fact that she was stuck to Josh, who was currently sitting down.

Ryo and Kyle waved to the magician as he left. Josh stared at the cursed restraints, wondering what deity he had pissed off so badly to deserve this fate. "Maybe you two will actually become lovers," Caryl teased, poking at Josh's right side.

"Me, fall in love with her?"

"Me, fall in love with him?!"

"Fat chance!" The ending exclamation was yelled by both at the same time. When they realized they had done this, they stared at each other for a single moment before they huffed and looked away from one another.

The rest of the trip to the Pokémon Center was spent in silence.

Next chapter: Team Magma returns! This time, they want to steal from Hoenn's largest corporation. But, the Digidestined stand in their way. Also, Gym Time!


	5. The Battle for Rustboro, Part 1

It had bugged Davis to no end since leaving Cinnabar Island a few days ago. Josh had decided to go to Hoenn by himself, in spite of everything he should have learned when he and several other Digidestined rescued him from Murmuxmon several months ago. By itself, this would have worried Davis.

But, before he left Josh's house that day, Gail had a request for him. _"If you could, try to keep this from the other Digidestined."_

" _Why?"_

" _I think that if news begins to spread, there will probably be a bunch of you who want to head over to Hoenn," Gail explained. "If Josh is right and Digimon can't survive over there, it would mean that you and your friends would need to leave them here and go it alone."_

At the time, Davis agreed to the request. As the days wore on, something still ate at him. The action Josh had taken was very odd. Even if he had been planning it for awhile, wouldn't he have told everyone? Was there still something wrong with him?

These questions and several others bothered Davis. Demiveemon looked at him and said, "Don't worry so much about it! I'm sure he's just fine!"

Davis stared out the window of his apartment, looking out onto the streets of Odaiba below. "I know. I just can't get it out of my head!"

They stayed silent for a few moments before Davis asked a question. "Do you think Josh's mom would kill me if I told one person?"

Demiveemon sweatdropped and stared at Davis. "How long before one person turns into two, and then into four and so on?"

Davis looked back at his partner. "I just want to talk to one person about this. After I talk with her, then I can decide whether or not to commit to keeping this secret."

As much as Demiveemon wanted to stop Davis right there, he knew that his partner only had the best of intentions. "Fine," he said after thinking. "Let's go see this person you need to talk with."

Davis grinned and walked toward the door. "Let's go, then!" Demiveemon leapt into Davis's arms and they went together to go see this person.

While Davis still lived in Japan, the same could not be said for all Digidestined originating from there. There were a number who had already emigrated to the Pokémon world. His own sister, June, eloped and went off with Kyle Ellison on a Pokémon journey of her own. The person he needed to see today emigrated to this world not long before June did.

To get there, he had to go through a Digiport opened at school and use a special program developed by Izzy, not long after the Pokémon world was discovered, to bypass the Digital Plane and head straight to his final destination.

Stone Town was the place where Kyle Ellison came from. It was called Stone Town because of the nearby mines from which evolution stones were mined. Right now, it was home of a couple of extra Digidestined getting used to life on this side. Kari and her brother Tai had decided to live here after spending the last couple of months with Kyle Ellison and his family.

Kari was hanging out in her room with Gatomon when Davis came to see her. "What's up?" Kari asked.

Veemon wandered over to hang out with Gatomon while Davis talked with her. "It's about Josh," he said after he walked over and sat on her bed.

"What about him?" Kari asked, looking puzzled.

"He's gone all the way to Hoenn and he didn't bother telling anyone," Davis began.

Kari looked at Davis for a moment, expecting him to say more. "So, why did you come all the way out here to see me?"

"I figured that if anyone could tell me about why he did that, you'd have the most insight," Davis responded.

"You were the one who dealt with him the most, after all," Veemon interjected.

"I can do you one better than that," Kari said as she walked over to a desk and grabbed her D-Terminal, a device which allowed Digidestined to communicate with one another wirelessly via e-mail. "Josh did tell one person about his trip over to Hoenn: me."

Davis went from looking confused to looking annoyed. "Why did he keep me out of the loop?"

"I don't think it had anything to do with keeping anyone in or out of a loop," Kari answered as she walked toward the bed, D-Terminal in hand. "It's pretty much the same reason why you came to me about him."

"She was the one who first met Josh and introduced him to us Digidestined," Gatomon interjected. "She was the one who witnessed him and his father being kidnapped by Murmuxmon."

Kari shuddered and told Gatomon, "Let's try not to talk about that anymore, okay? I still get shivers when I think about that horrible man and that dark Digimon."

"Sorry," Gatomon said. "I was just making sure Davis knew."

"I was kind of there when we rescued Josh from Murmuxmon," Davis reminded them both. "Anyway, you have an email from him?"

Kari nodded and opened her D-Terminal. After pressing a few buttons, it came up on screen. She passed the device to Davis to let him read it.

" _Kari, I had to mail you before I left. You've helped me in so many ways in the short time we've known each other. If it wasn't for you, Gatomon and Izzy, I would have surely done something that I would have regretted later._

" _Because of you, I feel that with time, I'll be able to trust people again. And not just people who I know well, like you two; but also people who seem to have good hearts, as well. Unfortunately, I must spend that time alone in a far away place, the Hoenn region._

" _I would have been more than happy to stay longer in Kanto with all of you, but the truth of the matter is that I need some time away from the Digimon to refresh my mind, especially after… well, you know._

" _I won't soon forget you, Gatomon and Izzy and how much you have changed me. Before I leave, I must thank you for your help from the bottom of my heart. And even though I may never truly know why you and the other Digidestined helped me and my family, I do know one thing for sure. Because of you, I can finally say I truly have some friends. Thank you. Josh"_

Davis read the note over a couple of times in his head before he gave the device back to Kari. His face looked more troubled after reading it.

"I'll admit that the move seemed out of character," Kari told him as she shut off the device and closed it up. "But, we don't know everything which went into the decision. He might have been contemplating this for awhile."

"Yeah, but…" Davis trailed off for a moment. "I don't know. Something about this whole thing strikes me as off. He said he 'truly had some friends' and yet the only person he actively told was you."

Gatomon spoke up from the background. "Do you really need a reminder? She was the first one he met back then. She kept his secret until she had no other choice, so of course he would trust her."

Veemon took the comment in a different direction from Kari's partner. "You want to go over to Hoenn, don't you? You won't be satisfied until you see it for yourself."

"You **do** realize that you can't go over to Hoenn with Veemon, right?" Kari responded skeptically. " From what Izzy hypothesized, you can't even use a Digivice within a large radius around that island."

"I wasn't planning on going over there," Davis answered. _At least, not yet. She knows me way too well._ "What I wanted to do was tell the others about this, even if it does go against her wishes."

"… I know even if I tell you not to do it, you're going to anyway. So instead… How about we just meet in a few weeks to discuss this as a team? That will give us all time to find time to get together and talk about this." Kari proposed.

"A few weeks?!" Davis shot up from the bed. "For all we know he could be—"

"He's not going to be!" Veemon argued with his partner. "Stop thinking like that!"

Davis winced. "Sorry, Veemon. I just got upset and—"

"He's survived just fine without us while his father chased him and his family; he'll be fine without us for a few weeks," Kari said to conclude the impending argument before it started.

Digicross Advanced Alpha Chapter 5: "The Battle for Rustboro, Part 1"

It was certainly true that Josh was surviving without having to deal with his father. However, this didn't mean that he was having a good time. For a couple of days running, he and Casey had been working together.

But, that work was strictly to get out of the predicament that Casey had put them in through her rash actions that night on stage. They tried heat, cold, brute force, every Pokémon attack their creatures knew … not surprisingly, trying to break a chain made of energy was nigh impossible. The handcuffs, mercifully, didn't look the part very well and weren't obvious to the casual onlooker.

Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said here in Rustboro. Casey and her tantrum on stage were enough for both her and Josh to make the local news. As a result, they were recognized by basically anyone in town. Some gave Josh pity, others sympathized with Casey, but most simply pointed and laughed at them.

Most of the first forty-eight hours were spent with the two of them being locked a few inches apart, with fresh arguments popping up every few hours.

The dawn of the third day brought with it a new idea that Josh was surprised he hadn't come up with two days earlier. "Let's go see a locksmith and see what they have to say."

Casey looked at him deadpan. "These things have no keyhole. What good is a locksmith going to be?"

Josh shrugged both shoulders. "What exactly do we have to lose?"

"Another afternoon stuck to you?" she asked, sounding quite trite.

"An afternoon we would have spent together anyway," he pointed out.

After a brief pause, she reluctantly agreed and they went off to the locksmith. Ryo, Kyle and Caryl followed several paces behind, in case another argument broke out. Wisely, they had installed ear plugs which they removed as the two bickersons walked away. "How can they find new things to argue about?" Kyle asked.

"They always seem to find a way," Ryo observed.

"I wish they would stop," Caryl complained.

About an hour later, they arrived at the locksmith's shop. As they walked in, the lady behind the counter covered her mouth and snickered. "I had a feeling you'd be stopping by sooner or later."

Josh frowned. "Please just tell us that you can help out."

"Patience," she said. "First, I need to have a good look at them."

"Go right ahead," Casey offered her wrist and Josh's to look at.

For the next fifteen minutes, she observed the bracelets with an eye that neither Josh nor Casey could ever offer this problem. As she did this, she looked at various tools in her arsenal which might have offered some kind of solution.

After working with a few tools, including a hammer and some steel clippers, she came to the conclusion Casey suspected she would. "These things are incredible. I can't see a single angle from which they could be removed. I'm sorry."

Casey shot Josh a look which said 'I told you so' before looking back to the locksmith. "Thanks anyway."

"Not a problem. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to look at them," she said with a smile. "Good luck in the future."

Both of them walked out with the other three trailing a respectful distance behind them. When Casey walked a couple of steps ahead of Josh, she triggered a feature they had activated over the last couple of days thanks to repeated shocks. When one of them took one step beyond the range that they were currently allotted, a buzz hit both of their ears warning them to get back. It was a great mercy not having to guess how far they could wander afield.

As they walked back to the Pokémon Center to figure out their next course of action, a man in a red hoodie watched from a shrub next to an office building.

"The Charizard has landed," he said quietly into his walkie-talkie.

"Good," a male voice responded. "Make sure it gets done before it's too late."

"Yes, sir," he responded before clicking off.

The following morning, all five of them emerged from the Pokémon Center into a city bustling more than usual. Many of them were trainers, based solely upon their dress code. There were some who appeared to be students heading toward the local Academy.

It was going to be a busy day in town; far too busy for the five of them to remain together. "Maybe we should split up," Ryo suggested. "There is a lot going on today and I think we all want to go do various things."

"I do want to head for the Gym and fight the local Gym Leader," Josh said with a smile on his face.

"If you go, I'll have to go with you," Casey pointed out.

Josh looked at Casey and asked, "Are you saying you don't want to face the Gym Leader?"

Casey shook her head. "No. I was simply pointing out a fact. I want to face the Gym Leader as much as you do. So, we'll go face her together."

"Glad you two could at least agree on that," Ryo said with a relieved sigh.

"What about you?" Josh asked.

Caryl butted in, "We're going to check out a tent in town. I have no idea what it's for, since I saw it on the news for about three seconds before it went away."

"Yeah, that's what we're going to do today," Ryo affirmed with a nod. He then turned to Kyle. "What about you?"

"I'd heard there was going to be a guest lecturer at the Rustboro Academy today. I wanted to go take a listen; see if I can learn something."

Casey swallowed her tongue and avoided the obvious insult. Josh had a valid question to ask, though. "Why are you going to school here? I thought the entire reason for obtaining a Trainer's License was to get out of school."

Kyle chuckled and shook his head. "While there's certainly merit in what you just said, that's not the only thing Rustboro Academy does. It's also supposed to be the best Pokémon Trainer's School in the entire Hoenn region. So, I'm hoping to pick up a few pointers."

 _Much like what ended up happening to me with Norman,_ Josh thought.

"Sounds like we all have a plan," Ryo observed. "Let's all meet back here, say, at 5 PM."

"Got it," Casey said. She turned to Josh and said, "Hopefully you don't need that long."

Josh sighed and said, "Please don't start. I want to have a positive attitude heading into my first Gym Battle."

Casey prodded again. "Afraid you're going to just get in the way?"

This got Josh a bit angry. "Maybe I just think I'd do better if I weren't attached to **you**."

"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out," Casey grumbled quietly.

This finally sparked the argument that Casey was seemingly looking for. Both of them argued and were snapped together.

By the time they stopped arguing some fifteen minutes later, Ryo, Caryl and Kyle had already left to begin their activities. "Let's just go," Josh suggested before walking to the door. Casey stumbled slightly from the sudden start.

About twenty minutes after they started, Josh and Casey arrived in front of the Rustboro City Pokémon Gym. Unlike Petalburg Gym, which was ordinary in every single way, this gym was far harder to miss. The exterior was covered in a rocky surface, making clear the nature of the trainers within.

The placard outside the Gym held another interesting fact. It called Roxanne the 'Rock-loving honors student'.

"She's a student at the Academy?" Casey asked.

"If this is to be believed," Josh observed. "This sign likely hasn't been updated in a long time."

Both of them took a breath and stepped into the Gym. Inside, the florescent lighting lit up a floor consisting of a set of stands for spectators to watch, a floor with a number of display cases containing rare rocks and an arena floor built with a lot of outcroppings and various rocky structures. The last one wasn't terribly surprising. After all, a Gym Leader would build their Gym to give their chosen type a significant advantage in battle.

"Can I help you?" Josh and Casey turned to their left and saw a woman dressed in attire which would have reminded them of a kind of school uniform.

"We're looking for the Gym Leader," Casey told her.

"You found her," she answered. "I'm Roxanne."

Josh felt less of the anxiety he felt when he confronted Norman, but he still felt some pressure coming off of her.

"I was about to head out and give a lecture at Rustboro Academy," Roxanne said. "But, I suppose I could take on a couple of challengers before I head out."

"Thank you!" Casey shouted. "I'm looking forward to this!"

Just before Casey and Josh turned toward the arena, Roxanne noticed the pair of bracelets around two of their wrists. Once she saw them, she recognized the both of them. "You were the ones who were on television a few nights ago, right?"

Josh shook his head and said, "Yeah. That's us."

Roxanne snickered. "I'm so sorry to hear that. That must make you Josh," pointing correctly at the boy, "and you must be Casey."

"I always wanted to be famous," Casey said. "This wasn't the way I wanted to achieve fame, though."

"And you think I wanted to be shackled to a loudmouth girl who doesn't know when to shut up?" Josh snapped back.

Before the yelling could begin again, Roxanne interrupted. "That's enough out of both of you," she said sternly. "I understand your anger and frustration. I would be frustrated if I had to spend my days like you two, but you're going to have to cool it before you enter my arena."

After half a minute to cool off, both trainers regained their focus on the task at hand. "Sorry about that. We're ready now," Josh said.

Roxanne then had a legitimate question. "How are you two going to fight me? In a Double Battle would be the easiest."

Even the suggestion of working together got the two of them bristling. "No!" They both yelled.

At Rustboro Academy, Kyle was permitted to sit in on a class about basic training techniques. Most of it was stuff Kyle had picked up during the brief time he had been a trainer: type match-ups, status ailments and how to cure them and a section entirely based around Pokémon moves.

The thing that Kyle found fascinating about these lectures had nothing to do with the content. Instead, most of the lessons were reinforced by an unusual method: video taken from battles fought a short distance away at Rustboro Gym.

"First, let me show you a trainer using type match-ups correctly," the teacher announced. On screen now was a trainer of a Water-type Pokémon, Psyduck, facing off against Roxanne.

"Geodude, use Tackle now!" Roxanne commanded.

The opponent trainer said, "Psyduck, hose it down with Water Gun!"

Psyduck let out a "Psy-yi" as it blasted out a jet of water at the charging Geodude. Geodude was blown backwards into a rock formation and badly shaken up.

The tape stopped there so the teacher could explain everything. "The Water-type move Water Gun is very effective against Geodude. Can anyone explain exactly why?"

One of the regular students stood up and said, "Geodude is considered both a Rock-type and a Ground-type. Water is effective against both of these separately, so a move against this Pokémon will be doubly effective."

"Very good," the lecturer said, nodding with approval. "Now, let's take a look at an example of someone using type match-ups poorly."

A few moments later, Kyle was questioning why he had come here today. The video which had popped up on screen was of a trainer who used a Taillow against the same Geodude from the last video. At least, that was the general presumption.

"Taillow, use Peck!" The trainer yelled. The bird flew on and pecked at Geodude and its rocky outer shell. To the surprise of no one, a beak against a rock shell was not terribly effective. If anything, Geodude looked annoyed by the presence of the bird.

"Geodude, use Rock Throw," Roxanne said calmly. The living rock responded by throwing several rocks in the arena at Taillow. At point-blank, it had no chance to dodge and was downed in a few hits.

The video stopped and the teacher asked, "What went wrong here?"

"The idiot didn't bother to get a Pokémon which could do the job?" One mean-spirited student asked.

The class had a chuckle while the teacher chided the student's attitude. "Now, now. If you don't know what you're getting into, it's very easy for things to go wrong."

Kyle remained silent as he sat at the back of the class. _Did I make a mistake? Am I really ready to face Roxanne? Rick might have given me the moves, but do I have the competence to pull it off? Or am I just going to end up being an example to future classes?_

Back at Rustboro Gym, Josh was hoping not to be made an example of. He'd decided to go first against Roxanne. Much to his surprise, he got no argument out of Casey. She'd told him that she wanted to "see how he fought firsthand". There certainly was no better place to do that than standing just outside the trainer's box at the edge of the arena.

Josh's strategy in fighting Roxanne had been twofold. First, he made sure to use Blade's speed to his advantage. Geodude nor Nosepass were particularly speedy Pokémon so Josh had used the rock formations as hiding places. Some would argue that this wasn't a particularly necessary step given Treecko was a Grass-type and Grass-types were quite effective against Rock-types, but Josh also knew that one lucky shot would take him out of the game. Poochyena held nowhere near the advantage that Blade did.

Roxanne had already been knocked back to her last Pokémon, Nosepass. It was a fair bit stronger than Geodude, and was a pure Rock-type, meaning no double weakness for Bullet Seed to take advantage of.

"Nosepass, use Rock Tomb and trap that Treecko!" Roxanne yelled out. Nosepass began to jump into the air to use its signature move.

"Blade, dart over to the right and snipe it with Bullet Seed!" Treecko nodded and shot out from the rocks, running with its arms behind it like a ninja. Just as he left, a series of four rocks appeared right around where Blade had been hiding, containing that area.

When he sighted Nosepass, he shot out a series of seeds. Several barrages hit Nosepass, distracting it as he went behind another pillar.

"You can't hide forever!" Roxanne told Josh.

"It's working pretty well so far," Josh pointed out. "The minute I run out of hiding spots is the minute you run out of ammunition."

Roxanne then gave Nosepass a new command. "Block Treecko out! Don't let him escape again!" Nosepass floated in the general direction of Treecko, following Roxanne's directions.

Josh waited for the right moment to strike. Nosepass approached. It still couldn't see Blade as it moved around the pillar. When it was within a few feet of the pillar, Josh shouted, "Go, Treecko! Use Bullet Seed!" He shot around the pillar, grabbed Nosepass on the face and shot right into it at point-blank. A total of five barrages hit the Pokémon before he finally let go. These shots were too much for Nosepass and it fainted, falling backward slowly.

Roxanne ran onto the field to make sure Nosepass was all right. "You did a good job," she said. She then returned Nosepass to its Poké Ball.

The referee finally said, "Nosepass is unable to battle. The winner of this Gym Battle are Josh and Treecko!"

"Great job!" Josh yelled out. "I'd come hug you right now, but I can't really do that!"

Blade chose to run to Josh instead and leap into … well, his right arm. Casey was still standing outside of the trainer's box, just to make sure that he wasn't randomly disqualified despite the fact that the battle was over.

Roxanne walked over and held out her hand. In her palm was a sight which told Josh that his new journey had begun: the Stone Badge. "Congratulations. You beat me fair and square. Please accept this Stone Badge." Josh took the badge. He would have a place to put it a moment later when she also handed him a Badge case.

As he awkwardly put the badge away with one hand, Roxanne giggled and she handed him one more prize for his victory: a Technical Machine. "This TM contains Rock Tomb, my favorite move. You'd know what it does better if you'd let me hit Treecko with it during combat."

Josh chuckled nervously and accepted it. "Thank you very much."

Roxanne then noticed Casey was still standing on the outside of the trainer's box, in spite of the fact that the match had been over for a few minutes now. "You know, you are permitted to stand with someone in the box now that it's over," she pointed out with a giggle.

Casey shook her head and said, "I still don't want to disqualify him."

Roxanne giggled again and said, "I think I have time for one more battle before I'm due at the Academy. I just need to make a quick stop to rest my Pokémon and then we can start."

Casey chose now to step into the arena and push Josh out of it. Well, shove is more like it. He had already put away the Badge Case, so that wasn't a serious problem.

On the other side of town, Ryo and Caryl had found the tent which she had seen on the news the night before. While she had assumed it would be some kind of circus at the time, what she actually found was even better. A giant sign read, "Aspiring Coordinators, a demonstration Conference will be put on for you today! Come and pick up a few tips from the judges of the Conference Circuit!"

The minute Caryl read those words, her eyes sparkled with excitement. "This is going to be kapai! I just know it!" Ignoring the fact that she had just used more Kiwi slang, they both walked inside.

When they got in, they saw dozens of people wandering around, getting to know their future rivals on the Conference circuit. Most of them were quite friendly and greeted Caryl and Ryo with friendly gestures.

And then there was a green-haired boy who came up to both of them. He looked at Ryo skeptically and said, "I didn't know someone like you would be interested in something like this."

Ryo shook his head and said, "I'm not here for myself. I'm here with her," motioning towards his girlfriend.

The boy looked at her and smiled in an insincere way. "Isn't she adorable? Does she even have a Pokémon?"

Caryl turned red and snapped, "I have several Pokémon, all of them better than what you have!"

"I very much doubt that," he responded. "The only reason I'm here today is to see if anyone is going to challenge me on the this year."

"You've been at this for awhile?" Ryo asked.

"A couple of years," he replied. "I'm Drew. Perhaps you've heard of me."

Ryo shook his head. "Afraid not. I only found out about the circuit a few days ago."

"Fair enough. You've been on the road training for all those championships, so I can't blame you." Drew said with a smile.

Caryl was getting very annoyed by the fact that Drew seemed to be purposefully ignoring her. "Well, maybe I will see you at Slateport Conference in a few weeks," Drew said before turning to leave. "Though you might not need to wait that long to see what I can really do."

He left, disappearing into the crowd a few moments later. Ryo took a look at Caryl, whose face was closer in tone to a Leppa Berry at the moment. "Now, calm down," he advised. "There's no point in getting upset."

"That bloke was ignoring me on purpose," she said, sounding irritated. "I'll show him. He's going to know how serious a competitor I am when we meet at Slateport Conference."

"Let's go learn more about what you need to do in these contests," Ryo suggested. "You'll have plenty of time to obsess on Drew later."

As they walked toward the center ring, they passed by blending machines which took berries and turned them into some kind of square-shaped candy. They were different colors but structurally they were all the same. "Those are Pokéblocks," a proctor explained. "These candies are loved by Pokémon and are said to enhance the Pokémon's inner attributes."

A picture appeared in Caryl's head of her Cyndaquil and Aerodactyl fighting over these candies. _That really would be a lolly scramble … Even my thoughts are turning Kiwi!_ She quickly stopped that train of thought before she screamed out and drew more attention to them.

As they walked toward the stage, Ryo saw something odd out of the corner of his eye: someone dressed kind of like him. That person had their back turned to him, so there really wasn't any reason to even go up to that person. They kept moving toward the stage.

After Ryo left him behind, the man spoke into a walkie-talkie and said, "The Charizard doesn't suspect a thing."

"Very good. Continue to blend in for now. The time for your mission is very soon," another male voice replied.

"Roger," he said before shutting off communications and continuing to walk along.

A few minutes later, they got to the bleachers surrounding the center stage and sat down. Down on the stage were a few trainers preparing themselves for the demonstration. Caryl's attention was grabbed almost immediately by the sight of a certain green-haired boy down below. She frowned and said, "It's that bloke again."

Ryo looked down at the stage and saw him. "I'm not that surprised. He said he's been at it for a couple of years now. If this is how he made a name for himself, it shouldn't be surprising that he's here now."

As she kept glaring down toward Drew on stage, a thought occurred to Caryl. "You think Kyle would want to come watch this? He did seem to express interest in taking part in these Contests."

Ryo turned toward her and said, "That's a good point. Do you think I should go over and get him from the Academy?"

"You could just switch places with him," she suggested. "I'll be fine on my own."

He didn't think about it long before he got up from the bleachers. "Kyle will be by in a little while, alright?"

"Yep!" she said with a nod and a grin. She then proceeded to start glaring at Drew again.

He patted her on the back and then walked back out of the tent to go find Kyle. Hopefully, he'd be able to get him over here in time for the demonstration.

Back at Rustboro Gym, Casey was fighting Roxanne in her own fight. Unlike Josh, who had gone largely for a speed-based approach, Casey was straightforward in her approach. Certainly part of the reason was because she had a year's worth of experience. The other part was because she knew that even if Aquaris went down, Meganium was waiting in the wings to nuke everything, so to speak.

Geodude had been washed away in a predictable fashion, thanks to Water Gun. Aquaris was a bit worse for wear because of a couple of Rock Throw attacks, but she was still on her feet.

"Go, Nosepass!" Roxanne called out before releasing her best Pokémon. From the Ball came a rocky creature with a large red nose as its distinguishing feature.

"Aquaris, use Water Gun!" Casey shouted. She went in and began firing off a stream of water from her mouth. Nosepass took some decent damage from this approach, but seemed unfazed.

"Show both of them what you can do, Nosepass! Use Rock Tomb!" As before, the attack caused Nosepass to jump into the air. Unlike before, Mudkip wasn't exactly the fastest Pokémon in the world. As a result, it got trapped inside the 'tomb' created from the four rocks.

"Aquaris, try to blast out of there!" Mudkip was badly injured underneath the enclosure, but she tried to blast her way out with nothing more than water power. A few spurts of water made their way out of the enclosure.

Roxanne wasn't about to let Casey off that easily. "Nosepass, use Tackle and take Mudkip out!" Nosepass floated upward a few inches off the ground and shot in. Just as the enclosure began to fall apart, Aquaris was blindsided by the charging Nosepass.

The surprise attack was too much for little Mudkip to take. She fainted moments later. "Mudkip is unable to battle. Nosepass is the winner!" The referee announced.

Casey was briefly surprised, but smiled and said, "Good job, Aquaris. Return!" The red beam hit Mudkip and forced her back into her Poké Ball. Then, she reached for her last Pokémon.

Josh made certain that his hand never brushed up against Casey's rear end during this process. While this meant having to look in that general direction, he did it in a way that Roxanne wouldn't notice.

"Let's do this, Meganium!" From her last Ball emerged her strongest Pokémon, a giant grass-type with her face growing out of a flower ringing her neck.

"Nosepass, use Rock Tomb!" The Rock-type created another enclosure to contain Meganium.

Unlike Mudkip, Meganium was ready for the attack, and so was Casey. "Meganium, let's end this with Solar Beam!"

After a few seconds, light broke through the cracks in the rock formation. After several more, Meganium broke out violently with a beam of light heading straight for Nosepass.

This battle was never going to be entirely fair. Meganium had an entire League worth of experience under her belt already. She also had a type advantage. To put it simply, this beam only cemented what all of them knew: Meganium would win this fight.

After the standard announcement, Casey did what Josh did not and dragged him onto the battlefield to congratulate Meganium and make sure that she was all right.

As she walked over to confer onto Casey her prizes, Roxanne jokingly pointed out, "You know, I could still have you disqualified for having multiple people on the battlefield at once."

Casey realized what she had done and dragged Josh back across the battlefield until they were back in their original positions. Roxanne held back a big laugh at their expense and walked toward them. "Well done. Please accept your prizes."

Roxanne gave Casey her prizes, including the Badge, a case to put it in, and a copy of TM39.

"Thank you for the great battle," Casey said as she put away her three prizes.

Roxanne smiled. "You're welcome, Casey. Both of you, keep up the good work. I want to see that you both made it far in this League." Both of them nodded with affirmation. "Now, we'll swing by the Pokémon Center, rest our Pokémon, and head for the Academy."

"Works for us," Josh said. "We have nothing else to do until much later anyway."

"Perfect, let's get going, then." The three trainers left to begin a plan for the rest of their day.

After the class on basic Trainer techniques had let out, Kyle had taken to wandering the halls of the Academy. In his mind, his Taillow was supposed to be his trump card. However, the video had done damage to his self-confidence.

 _Have I done enough?_ He wondered to himself.

An instructor walked by at one point. Seeing the troubled look on his face, she asked, "Are you okay?"

Kyle looked up and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." The instructor didn't entirely buy it, but she didn't have time to try and figure things out, so she left.

After about twenty minutes of wandering, he was shaken out of his stupor, temporarily, by a familiar voice. "Are you okay, Kyle?"

Kyle looked up and saw Ryo standing there without Caryl. "What are you doing here?" He asked.

"Don't dodge the question," Ryo said. "Are you okay?"

Kyle nodded and said, "Yeah. I was just thinking about things." After a few moments, he asked, "Did you leave Caryl behind?"

"Actually, I did. It turns out that the tent event she saw on the news yesterday wasn't any kind of carnival or circus," Ryo explained. "Instead, it's a demonstration Pokémon Contest."

Kyle's face lit up. "Really?" He asked, sounding surprised.

"Yeah. They're doing it as a service to those who wish to enter the circuit," Ryo answered. "If you hurry, you should be able to catch the show."

Kyle smiled, glad to be able to put aside his misgivings of fighting Roxanne for awhile longer. "Are you going to stick around for that lecture?"

"Sure," Ryo nodded. "I'll give you the highlights after the show."

"Thanks!" Kyle ran out of the Academy, waving to Ryo.

Ryo walked over to the campus map and checked to see where the lecture was taking place. "Just fifteen minutes left before it starts. I'd better go take a seat."

He left for the lecture hall, ready for whatever topic was coming today.

Five minutes later, Roxanne entered the building. Right behind her were the two trainers she faced just awhile back. She turned back and said, "Are you two ready?"

"Yeah," Josh said. Thankfully, he and Casey had both shown some tact since getting yelled at by the Gym Leader. As a result, the energy chain had disappeared. "I'm curious to see what this will be about."

"I think you'll like it," she assured them. The three of them walked to the lecture hall.

Ryo sat fairly high up in the lecture hall, waiting and wondering one simple question. _Who is the guest lecturer? The sign on the map was quite vague. All it said was, "The Future of Hoenn"._

The general buzz in the room indicated that most people thought it would be the president of Devon Corporation, Hoenn's answer to Kanto's Silph Corporation, who would be giving the speech. It certainly made sense; the head of a giant company whose sole job it was to provide trainers equipment and improve general quality of life giving a speech called "The Future of Hoenn".

But, before the guest proctor could enter, Ryo got a surprise. In the front door walked Josh and Casey. The two of them looked for a pair of seats they could use to watch the lecture. Ryo looked around him and had a couple of seats above him. He stood up and waved at the two newcomers.

Josh and Casey were both surprised to see Ryo here and walked up to where he was sitting. They took the seats right above Ryo. He turned around and asked quietly, "How did it go?"

"We both won our battles," Josh said.

"I won with more flair," Casey pointed out.

"And I didn't need two Pokémon to come out victorious," Josh answered.

Before the argument could begin again, a banging on the lectern startled them both. The entire hall went silent as they focused on the stage. Standing at the podium was the Gym Leader, much to the surprise of everyone not named Josh and Casey. The two of them had accompanied her here after their battles at the Gym.

"Attention, students. I know I don't need to introduce myself. But, for any out-of-towners, my name is Roxanne and I am the Gym Leader here in town. Today, I am here to speak about the future of Hoenn and the world at large."

The students all watched the stage. A screen dropped down, showing that there were at least going to be slides to accompany the speech.

"Last year, a new phenomenon hit our world," she began. "While we didn't feel the effects of it directly here in Hoenn, it is my belief that our entire world dynamic changed when this happened."

The screen lit up with news footage of the battle above Indigo Plateau against Demon last year. Because it was from a news broadcast, it concentrated on the giant Digimon like Imperialdramon. As the footage played with no audio, Roxanne began to talk over the top of it. "Many of you saw this footage on television last year, I'm sure. But while the news broadcast concentrated on the battles between creatures which dwarf most Pokémon, it failed to talk about the fact that most of those creatures actually have human partners."

Ryo looked up at Josh and Casey. All three of them shared a look of surprise. They had inadvertently attended a lecture about themselves. "How many of you have heard of the Digidestined?" Roxanne asked. A small number of hands went up in response. Josh, Casey and Ryo had to raise their hands. It was impossible for them to have not heard that term.

"I'm not surprised. We only saw one broadcast about this event last year. But, the Digidestined are a large part of the reason why Demon didn't cause as much damage or wreak as much havoc as he could have."

The fact that Ryo was sitting in on this lecture would prove very interesting shortly...

Meanwhile, in front of the Devon Corporation building, the person dressed vaguely like Ryo stood in front of the glass doors. "All I need to do is wait for a few minutes. If they're right, my opportunity is coming very soon. Very soon, indeed..."

He paced a little more and smirked. "When we're done here, Team Magma will be riding high."

Next Chapter: Why did Team Magma impersonate Ryo? How will Ryo and Kyle do against Roxanne? Will Caryl hate Drew even more, if that's even possible?


End file.
